Birth of a Kaiba
by KaibaGirl007
Summary: Collection of short stories revolving around the birth of one of Mokuba or Seto's children: - Twins - Tokophobia - Tragedy - Transportation - Take That -
1. Twins

**This story is part of my Doctoring the Blue Eyes saga (for full reading list see my profile)**

**This chapter is set after chapter 44 of Doctoring the Blue Eyes **

**I own no rights to YuGiOh, Doctor Who, or Torchwood 'cause I'm poor :P**

**Enjoy :) **

**Chapter One**

Mokuba was seated behind the desk in his KaibaLand office giving his brother a demonstration of the problems that had been constantly occurring throughout the day. His fingers raced across the keyboard entering his commands but as soon as he right mouse clicked on his chosen work the screen burst into chaos as multiple programs automatically set themselves up to run. "See, it goes crazy every single time!"

Standing behind his seated brother Seto glanced at him with raised brows. "You mean it's not supposed to do that?"

"I'm being serious here!" The younger brother was less than impressed by the other's joking. "I've done everything I could possibly think of and still there's no change. I need your expertise on the issue."

"Right, let me see what I can do."

The two men switched places and Seto himself tried to get the programme working correctly.

"So is it some kind of hack?" Mokuba asked anxiously as he watched the screen spew out more unwanted windows for his brother. "How serious do you think it is?"

"Just leave it to me." Seto assured that the problem would be dealt with. "If all else fails then I'll just reboot everything from scratch."

"Don't you think I've tried that already?"

"In that case then I think a full system wipe and upgrade is what's needed. Plus that way I can make sure any areas that have been neglected are brought up to date too."

"Neglected?" Mokuba was appalled at the word his brother had used. "As in you don't think I'm capable of maintaining my corporation?"

"Those are your choice of words, not mine."

"Seto!" He had no idea where his brother had attained such a,- even more so than usual,- strange and deadpan sense of humour from lately.

"Your backup files?"

"Bottom draw." Mokuba revelled the location of the discs that had been requested as he indicated to his brother's right. "Okay I'll admit that I'm not up to the same caliber as you when it comes to these things, but I'm certainly capable of ..."

"Relax Mokie, I'm not questioning your capabilities in the slightest." He assured as he rummaged through the cluttered draw and winced when he felt something sticky. "I'm more than aware of what you can and can't do."

"Sorry, my bad." The younger brother apologised for the red gooey piece of candy that was now attached to the other's fingertips.

Calmly Seto discarded the previously forgotten treat, - _I thought he'd grown out of doing that?_ \- and continued with the rummage once more. "Besides, what kind of a brother would I be if you couldn't call on me every … now … and … again?" His words became more spaced out at having caught sight of the blister pack of blue diamond shaped pills.

Turning where he sat Seto looked at his younger brother. "Is there something you want to tell me?" He asked whilst placing down the stack of CDs and papers onto the desk.

"Like w-what?" Mokuba stuttered nervously at his brother's questioning glance.

Seto couldn't bring himself to ask outright about the viagra he had seen and concluded that neither could his brother. That was why it had been left there for him to find to help raise the awkward issued. "I promise that I won't think any less of you."

"Good ..." Mokuba hesitated for a moment and tried not to let his eyes be drawn to the huge purple rose letterhead trapped amongst the pile on his desktop. "Because I was certain that after the feud you two had ..."

"Feud?"

"With Siegfried."

Confused Seto followed the now swift back 'n forth of his brother's eyes and saw the letterhead himself. "You're in cahoots with the Schroeders?!" He exclaimed as all other thoughts escaped him.

"No, of course I'm not!" Mokuba protested and should have known better than to assume his brother would remain calm. "Okay, yes Leon _is_ a business partner..."

"He's a Schroeder." The fact was spoken with an animus growl.

"And we're Kaibas!" The younger brother shot back, pointing out that neither family had descended from a past they had been proud of. "He's just like us; built his own company and reputation from scratch. You'd be hard pressed to find another roller-coaster manufacturer better than him and besides, he's my friend."

"I'm not going to lecture you on whose company you choose to keep." Seto attempted to restore some calmness by reluctantly backing down from the confrontation. "All I ask is that you don't forget what they nearly did to us."

"That was all Siegfried's doing." Mokuba argued back about the virus that had tried to delete Kaiba Corp in the past during their youth. It wouldn't be forgotten, though they had all moved on a lot since that time. "I can't believe that you tried to use that against him."

"I just want you to be cautious."

"You mean like you are with Pegasus?"

There was no response to the challenge made as Seto carefully began to delete the software from KaibaLand's mainframe.

"Have you forgotten what he _did_ do to us?" Mokuba pressed on with his contesting. "Not only the manipulation he still has on you but the things he did to you back then? The things he did to me?"

"Of course I haven't." The betrayal of his trust and the events of Duelist Kingdom were what made him keep a constant vigilance when it came to his once idol.

"Well it doesn't seem like it. All those dealings that you still do with him."

"It's unavoidable since Duel Monsters is involved." Seto snapped irritatedly at having his own decisions probed. "Or have you forgotten how important that is to me?"

"_Ha!_" His brother's reasoning was laughable. "So important that you went and sold all of your shares of the Duel Academy to him?" He received a narked yet somewhat startled look. "Yes Seto, I _do_ read the business news."

Now shamefully avoiding eye contact, Seto's fingers clattered on the keyboard in the silence that followed.

"Why?" Mokuba asked with a much calmer and empathetic tone. "That place was your dream Seto and you practically gave it to him. How could you discard something you love so easily?"

"I didn't discard it Mokie." There was an aching sigh at the thought of what had been done but knew that it needed to be so. "Truth is that yes, at one point Duel Monsters was one of my reasons for living, but life has changed and so have my priorities. I have Kisara now and Anathema. You know firsthand what it's like to not have my attention; I don't need multiple distractions to keep me from them. I'm sure you'd do the same for Rebecca and your kids if you had to."

"Oh my god, Becky!" Fear filled Mokuba as he checked his watch. "I lost track of the time. She's going to kill me if I'm not there by her side."

"Stop exaggerating. That woman worships the ground that you walk on and there's nothing you could possibly do to make her act otherwise."

"Yeah well, we'll see who's laughing once this is all over." Nerves gripped hold of the younger brother causing him to freeze where he stood.

"What time do they plan to operate?"

"Soon." Mokuba squeaked rather pathetically in response to the query of the Cesarean section that had been scheduled for that afternoon.

"Then you had better get a move on instead of standing here conversing with me."

No response.

Seto decided that sometimes his brother needed a kick up the ass, - quite literally, - to get things done. Breezily he swung the chair to his left with a leg out stretched so it made contact with Mokuba's behind. "Go on! Your wife needs you." He then indicated to the now blank screen and KaibaLand mainframe. "Don't worry, I've got this."

Mokuba nodded his thanks and agreement before he sped out of the room only to retrace his steps a few seconds later as his head peered around the door. "Bro? Are we good? I didn't mean to come across as confrontation..."

"We're good." Seto assured his brother with a genuine smile. "Now hurry before you miss your sons' births. Go greet them into this world."

"Yes." Mokuba gasped with a face now beaming with excitement and raced off for the hospital.

The office fell quiet and for the first time in months Seto felt somewhat alone as the joyous occasion caused old feelings to resurface. Would he always find it hard to accept that his brother was a grown adult with his own life and completely independent from him? _Maybe not completely independent, _He smirked to himself as he began to rebuild the mainframe.

Of course he would always be there. Mokuba had become a fine young man and member of society because of him. And although they continued to walk their own paths in life he would still remain in his role and duty of being the over-protective big brother. Set habits were hard to break, which was proven fact by the way his brother's partnership with the younger Schroeder continued to dwell on his mind. _Something isn't right. Mokuba may be convinced but I have a feeling that neither Schroeder can be trusted._

Not wasting a moment more he sided with his gut instinct and pulled the cell phone from his pocket to dial for help. It rang several times before it was answered. "Cardiff tourist information office, how may I help you?"

"Gwen?" Seto asked surprised at hearing the Welshwoman answer his call. "Where's Ianto?"

"It's his mam's funeral today."

"Of course." He sighed regrettably at having forgotten the death of his friend's mother that had once been mentioned in an e-mail between them. The cell phone was now placed between his ear and shoulder whilst his fingers danced across the keyboard. "In that case then, can you do something for me? I want a search done on a Leon Von Schroeder."

"And you can't do it yourself because?"

"I'm working on other things right now."

"So am I."

His fingers ceased for a while and now took control of the mouse, warily he asked, "You're doing a crossword puzzle aren't you?" There was no way Jack would have had her manning the phone line in tourist office if there was serious work to be done.

"Yep, and I'm stuck."

Seto stopped what he was doing and sloughed back in the chair. "Come on then, let's have it." He muttered whilst dramatic throwing a hand in the air as he struggled to keep his calm at her unspoken indication that her pointless task was more important than his.

"I need another word for hot tempered. Twelve letters; fourth letter T and eighth is an E."

"Cantankerous." He answered almost immediately.

"Ha-ha, thanks. That's a fiver Jack owes me for betting that I wouldn't be able to solve it."

"But you didn't, I did." He spoke tiredly, beginning to wish that he'd just used his cell phone to check for the information himself.

"Yeah but he doesn't need to know that. Just like old times right?"

A fond reminiscing smile uncontrollably crept onto his face at the thought of the simpler times he'd had whilst working as part of Jack's team. Secretly a part of him longed for their return, but the correction of his timeline rendered them far and forever from his grasp. _Maybe not quite forever._

"Right, on to that search you wanted." Gwen's compliant voice snapped him from his thoughts. The sound of a keyboard being vigorously used travelled down the phone line. "So, have you given any more thought to Jack's suggestion?"

"What'd you take me for? Of course I have."

"And?"

"Plans _are_ currently in motion." Seto casually spoke as he leaned forward to continue his task of rebooting his brother's system. This had been the true reason for detaching himself from his precious Duel Academy. Kaiba Corp would always remain his priority, anything else was a bonus.

Knowing that it would still be possible for him to manage another business on the side and after everything the captain had done for him Seto wasn't going to let him down when asked to stand by his friend's side in fighting to keep the world safe from harm. Soon he would be in command of Torchwood Five monitoring the Domino rift. All he was waiting on now was a response from UNIT to help dispose of the broken machinery stored in the secret basement that the Doctor had spoken of.

"That's great, he'll be so thrilled to hear … Oh my god!"

"What?" Seto asked at hearing the abrupt exclamation and cease of typing from his friend. Had she found some kind of scandal involving Schroeder?

"You should see this!"

_I knew it!_ Seto's mind sneered as he concluded that the Welshwoman had indeed discovered the slander he'd hopped to find. He stopped typing and made himself more comfortable to relish in the revelation. "Let's hear it, what have you found on this guy?"

"Grimm and Anderson."

"And who, pray tell, are they?" He asked intriguingly.

"Not who but what. Honestly Cariad, your brother owns KaibaLand and you don't know what Grimm and Anderson is?"

"Then go ahead and enlighten me!"

Gwen failed to hide her amusement as a haughty snort travelled down the line from hearing his irritation. "It's only the biggest theme park in Europe; Built four years ago and situated outside of Verviers, Belgium. Everything there is based around the famous works of the Brothers Grimm and Hans Christian Anderson. I told Rhys we should have gone there but _noooo_, he wanted to go to EuroDisney instead … Oh, look at that!"

"I obviously can't since I'm on the other end of a phone!"

"Cinderella's Pumpkin Carriage Carousel! … Oh, and The Snow Queen's Toboggan Ice Tunnel! … Oh, that Gingerbread House is gorgeous! … Oh, Seto! If only you could … Oh! … Oh!..."

"When you've quite finished your orgasm, I'd like to get back to the task at hand." Seto growled; his patience wearing thin. There was no way that the younger Schroeder could possibly have such a magnificent place to contend with his brother's. How was it that the two of them were business _partners_ when clearly they should be _rivals_? "Is there anything else I should know about him?"

"He used to be a duelist..."

"I _know_ that! His company's track record, what's that like?"

"Sorry Cariad, but if you're hoping for some dirt on this guy then I'm afraid you're out of luck. He's as clean as a whistle in Ianto's pocket."

Seto felt something sink down inside him. Had his instincts been wrong? "Try searching his brother, Siegfried Von Schroeder."

There was the sound of tapping once more coming from the other end of the line. "Right, now let's see what this guy … Oh!"

"Not again!" Seto's head despairingly sank into his hand at hearing yet another excited gasp from Gwen.

"Oh? … Wow, that … sucks."

"What?" His interest was starting to regain at the disappointment now in her voice. "What sucks?"

"Well this guy's had a string of failed business ventures. Looks like you beat him to the punch on some of them. He's currently focused on trying to build up some animation studio,- I sense you're not going to beat him on that since I know how you hate cartoons and such,- and he's kinda doing okay at the moment after having success with that film featuring those yellow things that are everywhere at the moment."

"Anything else?"

More typing as Gwen searched for the dirt her friend desired and began to read out what she had uncovered. "I've found an article about how he once tried to … but I guess you already know about that since it was your tournament he sabotaged … and your company too? … What a dick!"

"Tell me about it."

"No wonder you wanted me to do a check up on them if that's the kind of people they are."

"I wasn't much better myself at one point." Seto admitted to the once dark era of his youth.

"But you changed right?"

"Right." He agreed thoughtfully. _If I can do it then surely they're capable to? _"Thank you Gwen, you've been a real help."

"Anytime Cariad."

The call was ended and for a moment Seto sat with the phone held up and resting on his chin as he thought some more. _My instinct seems to be clearly off this time around. Am I just hanging on to some pointless feud that should remain buried well in the past? Perhaps Mokuba was right all along in seeing the good in other people?_

He looked at the clock. It was late afternoon and he decided that he didn't have anymore time to waste on the Schroeders, - ever, - as he now proceeded to continue to work on the KaibaLand mainframe once more.

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Once Mokuba had arrived at the hospital he was requested to change into a set of scrubs before being lead through to the operating theatre where his wife was waiting. The clothes hung neatly on his body but the cap on his head bulged with the mass of hair he had to accommodate underneath it.

"Sorry I'm late." He planted a kiss on Rebecca's forehead as he finally reached her side in the sterile room.

"You're not late ...Yet." She told him with a playful smile but feed up of the time she'd spend stuck on the hospital trolley where she lay propped up with an epidural in her spine and legs wide open as a midwife examined her internally.

"Okay Mrs Kaiba, you're almost fully dilated, so soon I'm going to need you to prepare to push."

"Push?!" Mokuba spoke horrified to the midwife freeing her hands of the gloves she had just used. "But I thought you were performing a C-section?"

"No need to fear Mr Kaiba." She assured him. "It's just the standard procedure for twins to birth the first one naturally if possible and then we'll assess what route to take from there on."

"Oh." He replied in response as the midwife moved away to consult with the other midwife and doctor within the room.

Rebecca reached out to grab her husband's hand as he looked pale and shaken by what he had just been told. "It'll be okay."

"I did this to you." There was a terrified and remorseful tone to Mokuba's voice as he spoke with teary eyes. "Aren't you scared?"

"A little." She allowed herself to admit but kept up a brave face to hide her own fears of childbirth to help ease his. No matter how much he'd insisted he was okay in leading up to this moment she knew that the tragic death of his mother during his birth was the thing plaguing his mind. The grip on his hand tightened as she assured him, "You're not going to lose me."

A sad waver of a smile flicked across his lips as he tried his best to stay strong. "I should be the one comforting you."

"You're here, that's all the comfort I need."

The smile began to disappear from Rebecca's face as she winced and fought back the numbing pressure of the contraction, grateful that the epidural was working to keep the pain at bay.

"I think it's time for you to start pushing." Both midwives approached. Together they continuously encouraged her as the baby slowly and gradually made his way down the birth canal.

"You can do it Becky; almost there now." Mokuba cheered his wife on as he continued to hold her hand as well as repeatedly swab the sweat from her forehead.

"I can't!" Rebecca panted with exhaustion and defeat from the gruelling task she was undertaking.

"Yes you can." The doctor assured her as he too had also joined them during the time taken to get this far. "Just take a short rest and retry once the pressure begins again."

"How's the baby?" Mokuba asked as casually as he could muster whilst swabbing moisture from his wife's tired face.

"The baby's doing fine." The midwife confirmed and beckoned him to her. "Come and see."

"Go on." Rebecca encouraged him. Maybe if he saw what was happening down below for himself it would help ease his fears and doubts over the situation. "I'll be fine."

Nervously, Mokuba made his way towards the end of the hospital trolley. His eyes timidly directing themselves to view between his wife's legs where he saw their son's head crowning out from her vagina. A genuine smile flashed on his face like lightning as he spoke to the woman he loved. "You really _are_ almost there!"

The joyful look on her husband's face provided her with the additional strength she needed to continue and when the next urge to push came along Rebecca gave it her all. Soon she was rewarded with the sound of her baby's first cry.

"You did it Becky!" Mokuba praised her with a shower of affectionate kisses. "Well done, you did it."

Exhausted once more Rebecca flopped into the arms of her husband. Childbirth was a lot tougher than it looked. Comparing it in terms of difficulty to that of the quantum mechanics masters degree she'd given up to embark on her life as a Kaiba she instantly knew which she personally had found easiest. But Mokuba was the path she had chosen for her life and future; she wouldn't have changed _anything_. Not one single thing. The sacrifice she had made, pain that had just been endured and was still to come, was more than worth it to be with the man she loved.

One of the midwives now carried their baby to them whilst the other remained where she was at the foot of the trolley. "Here's your first beautiful boy."

Beautiful. It wasn't the word Mokuba would have used to describe his child, but it would do as he knew there was no other word available in existence that could possibly capture the admirable bundle of perfection that the two of them had created. Only a name could do that. "Hello Arthur." He cooed gently taking his son from the midwife. "Come and say hello to your mom."

Arthur was gently guided across and down to Rebecca's side as she lay silently sobbing tears of joy but was then suddenly taken away as both midwives and the doctor began to rush around in a state of urgency.

"What's wrong?" Mokuba asked terrified as he watched his son whisked away and placed into a transparent crib on one side of the room and his wife speedily taken to the other. Two more medical staff also entered the sterile room.

"Baby number two is now showing signs of distress and we need to act quickly." One of the midwives explained. "Please Mr Kaiba, we need you to stay calm and out of the way whilst we operate."

Staying out of the way wasn't a problem as Mokuba found himself rooted to the spot in fear. As for staying calm, that was a whole other story. _No! Please don't let anything happen to them. Please don't._ He was aware that he was now physically shaking, scared at the possibility that history was about to repeat itself. 'Sooner or later it always does and is completely unavoidable in some cases,' - the timelord had once told him.

"Mokie!" Rebecca cried out as she had no choice but to helplessly lay there with a screen now constructed across her stomach to conceal the Cesarean section from her view.

With a torn heart he watched his scared wife cry on one side of the screen and could clearly see the doctor operating on the other side, scalpel in hand as he effortless sliced down Rebecca's abdomen. _You can't crumble at a time like this! She needs you to be there! She needs you to stop wallowing in the past!_

The scrubs of the doctor and his team were now covered in amniotic fluid and blood as they worked swiftly to pull the baby free from the exposed uterus. "Okay we're clear." One of them stated as they handed the tiny newborn to the midwife and began to remove the placenta so that they could then close up the wounds they had made.

"What's wrong with my baby?" Rebecca asked fearfully as she watched the two midwives hurry away with him.

It was only then that Mokuba too realised something was wrong as his second born had not yet made a sound. _No, no, no, no! _He looked at the midwives and then back at his terrified wife. Defiantly he moved from where he stood and raced to be by her side. "Shhh." He tried to calm and ease her as he cupped his hands around her face and forced her to make eye contact with him. "Everything's okay; it's just standard procedure that look's scarier than it actually is."

Rebecca tried to shake her saddened face but it was still held tightly in her husband's hands. She knew he was trying his best, mostly for himself, but the false reassurance wasn't comforting at all. "We've lost him." Tears began to roll down her checks as she forced them both to accept what she knew to be the truth now rather than later.

His mouth twitched as Mokuba tried to remain optimistic. "But I've still got you." He told her with a lump in his throat and a lone tear escaped from one of his eyes as he fought the rest back. "And we've got Arthur."

More tears now flowed down on both their faces as together they began to mourn their loss. But the tears soon stopped as a high pitched shrill suddenly broke through the air. Together they turned their heads and saw their second born now being brought towards them.

"Sorry, we didn't mean to scare you both." The midwife apologised as she held the wailing newborn. "This little guy was becoming a bit oxygen starved but he seems to be doing much better now." She handed him over to the shaking arms of his mother.

"Noah!" Rebecca gasped in relief as she cradled him tenderly. More tears began to fall, this time full of joy. She turned to her husband. "I'm sorry I didn't believe you."

Mokuba forced a wavering smile onto his tear stained face and kissed his wife's forehead lovingly as he pulled them both closer to him. He hadn't believed himself either and for a moment wondered if a higher power had heard and answered his prayer for their wellbeing.

"I hate to break up this happy little family but we're going to need to start moving you all onto the postnatal ward." The midwife began to explain the next plan of action. "Mrs Kaiba, we'll help you to get cleaned up and wheel you along once you're done. Mr Kaiba, you are most welcome to accompany your wife or if you'd prefer, your sons during their first check up; the choice is yours."

"Don't worry about me." Rebecca told him with a smile so that he didn't have to make the difficult decision himself. "Stay with the boys, you've been waiting long and patiently to met them."

"Thank you." He leaned over to kiss her goodbye before carefully taking Noah from her.

"I'll see the three of you again soon once I'm looking beautiful again."

"You always look beautiful to me Becky." Mokuba sincerely told her before he was ushered away and back towards the crib were Arthur lay.

Mokuba carefully placed Noah down in the crib beside his twin. He watched fondly as the new arrival continued to cry and stretch out his shaky limbs only to disturb the peaceful Arthur whom had drifted off to sleep. Both gave a startled cry at the contact that had been made and then upon the next brushing of their tiny hands they fell silent with contentment of being reunited together again.

A hugh smile proudly grew on his face at the sight of his peaceful sons as the realization of having become a father finally hit home. It was an alarming thought for many men, but after being raised by the finest man he knew, - and would most likely ever know, - Mokuba was confident that he had learnt what he needed for him to be able to care for and unconditionally love them both.

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**Thanks for reading :)**

**KG**

**The next chapter will see the birth of Seto and Kisara's first born.**


	2. Tokophobia

**This chapter is based shortly after 'Children of Earth: Seto's story'**

**Enjoy!^^**

**Chapter Two**

"Oh _fuck_, that hurts!" Kisara hissed during the wave of contractions she was currently experiencing. She sat on the hospital bed in the tie around garment which she had been ordered to wear by the midwife upon her arrival and examination, then was strapped up to a machine used for monitoring hers and the baby's blood pressure. That was two hours ago. "Okay, it's passed."

In the chair by her bedside, Jack Harkness sat consulting the stopwatch in his hands as he timed the length and duration between contractions. "Yep, they're definitely getting closer together and lasting longer." He made a mental note of the reading before he cleared it to start the next and sent the hands ticking once more.

"Do I need to mention the fact that they're getting more painful?" She tried to laugh but her anxiety made it sound more like a sob, as the two of them waited in the delivery room.

"Your use of the F-word did kinda give it away." The captain smirked. Over the few years he'd known his friend's wife, he'd never heard any kind of crude language leave her mouth. The smile dissolved from his face as he watched her try to hide the worries that plagued her mind. Reaching out with his free hand, he held hers and gave a comforting squeeze. "You're doing great."

Kisara's hand tightened in the hold as she looked at the man next to her with wide teary eyes. "I'm scared Jack. What if something goes wrong?"

"We're in a hospital; you couldn't be in a better place if complications arose…"

"I'm not talking about the birth!" Her voice had risen in an irritated tone. "What if Seto doesn't…"

"He'll be here." Jack spoke his words assertively as he cut across the thought of her husband missing the joyous occasion since they had had no luck in contacting him so far. "Save your worrying and just concentrate on bringing that little one into the world 'cause believe me; it's going to hurt like hell."

"Like you'd actually know what it's like." The remark was sneered almost insidiously.

"Being pregnant once was _more than_ enough for me. There's no way I'm ever gonna be stupid enough to agree to do _that_ again."

She looked at him with a perplexed glare. "I can never tell whether to take you seriously or not."

A mischievous grin flashed those perfect white teeth. "Take me anyway you like, I never complain, but I don't think Seto or Ianto would agree to let us …. Oww!" Kisara squeezed tightly onto his hand, her nails started to dig into the captain's skin. "I take it they've started again?"

"Whatever gave you that idea?!" She hissed through clenched teeth and tried to remember the things she'd been taught in her antenatal classes which had all but abandoned her by now.

"You know, if you weren't wired up to this machine we could have you up and walking around to ease the pain…"

"What makes you think that I'll be able to stand, let alone walk?!" Her nails sunk deeper into the captain's hand and she heard more sounds of discomfort leave his lips in sharp gasps and hisses.

Kisara released her hold as the contraction came to an end and Jack was quick to reclaim his hand and pretended that he needed both to be able to restart the stopwatch. "Make them stop!" She begged him taking several deep drawn out breaths to calm herself.

"I can't, but I'll get you help from someone who can." He assured her as he rose from his seat beside the bed and placed the stopwatch back inside one of his greatcoat's many pockets.

"No." She shook her head frantically. "Don't leave me."

The captain's eyes locked with hers and he saw the fear reflected which had been built up towards the woman's first child birth. "It'll just be for a few minutes, I'll find a midwife and send her through." There was nothing more that he would have liked to have done other than flee back to the hub underneath Cardiff bay, but he also didn't want to leave the scared mother-to-be on her own either, and would stay for as long as he could. "I'll give Seto another call too, okay?"

"Okay." Kisara whimpered as she bit down on her lip.

Jack swiftly left the room and soon found one of the midwives in the corridor as she consulted someone else's files. "Excuse me?!" He called only to be ignored.

Racing over to her, he tried again as he placed a hand on her arm to make his presence known. It worked as the woman looked up at him from the paperwork. "Hi, I was wondering if you'd mind checking over Kisara? She's in labour and is due to have her baby…"

"Are you trying to be funny sir, or just extremely dim-witted?" Why else would the woman in question be in the delivery wing of a maternity hospital?

"I'll let you decide. Anyhow, nobody has been back to check on her progress for over two hours now and she's experiencing some serious pain issues..."

"She _is_ having a baby sir, there's a whole lot of pain involved in the process. You men are lucky that you'll never have to go through giving birth yourselves…"

"Ya see, you're stood here _talking_ to me about her pain when you should be in there _helping_ to ease it for her!" He failed to keep his voice calm as his temper rose from the irritation the midwife caused him.

"Which room sir?" She didn't seem the slightest bit interested.

"Room six."

"Okay, I'll have someone see to her right away." The woman assured in a tone that told him she didn't liked to be told how to do her job, before she started walking away from him.

"Thank you." Jack gave a forced smile. That was one thing sorted; now he just had the phone call to make. He rushed to exit the building so that he'd be able to use the device which was not permitted to be in use inside the hospital.

Flipping the cell phone open he wasted no time speed dialling his friend's number. He gave a frustrated sigh as he was placed through to the answer machine yet again. "Where the _fuck_ are you Seto?!"

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The CEO of Kaiba Corp was stood in the foyer of his company's building as he bid farewell to one of his recently acquired business associates. After only just coming out of the meeting were he had signed a contract with the American firm, he now watched the man with a dark receding hairline and moustache leave his property. "I _really_ despise that man!" He growled under his breath.

There was a giggle from Rebecca who was stood beside him as she also watched the head of Geocomtex depart. Together with her brother-in-law, they both entered back into the elevator. "Just think of it this way Seto; we're one step closer to nailing that guy and once that's done you'll be able to tear up the contract."

"I have a feeling it's going to take some time to accomplish though." He flipped open the secret panel compartment on the controls and scanned his fingerprints to send them on their way down to the secret room below basement level. "Gaining Van Statten's trust seems to be a lot harder than I had anticipated."

"At least you'll have a nice little product and profit as a result of your undercover work, so it's not all bad." She tried to stifle her laughter at the questioning look on the CEO's face.

There was no denying that the joint effort over the Strand-390 player would be a sophisticated piece of technology and profitable outcome for his company, but Seto wasn't at all pleased with several of the decisions that had been made. Decisions which he had only allowed in an attempt to acquire the other man's trust by making him think that he was in control of the situation at hand, when in fact Torchwood was investigating him and the alien artefacts that were in his alleged possession, which was why he'd allowed Kaiba Corp to be connected with Geocomtex in the first place, as he sought to find out the answer.

"Pink?" Seto asked sceptically. The choice of colours that had been arranged for the product's launch release was one of the qualms that he had. Many companies had opted to appeal to their female consumers in this way, but not Kaiba Corp. He felt it patronising to everyone involved, namely his and his company's well established profile which now span world-wide after recently becoming a huge success in Europe. "Would you buy from, and/or think highly of, a company pushing such a stereotypical gimmick?"

"Personally… no, on both accounts." Rebecca was serious with her reply.

"I hope Jack appreciates the sacrifices I'm making with my company's reputation. His hunch about this guy had better be right!"

_PING! _The elevator doors opened to allow them access to the gigantic underground room where a huge cybernetic conversion unit had once been, but now that it had been completely removed and destroyed, the vast area had become the hub for Torchwood Five.

"I'll get to work on this right away." Rebecca stated as she approached her workstation and then removed her glasses to flip open a tiny port situated on one of the framework's arms. Next she took a thin cable that was connected to her computer's mainframe and hooked the two together for the information, - recorded via a tiny camera encased in the lenses of her spectacles, - to be relayed and the data displayed onscreen. Placing her glasses back on her face, she then began to edit out the footage which was relevant for adding to their case file on Henry Van Statten.

The meeting which had just ended would be re-examined to see what clues may have been overlooked to closing in on the man's hidden secret. Seto was glad that this was not a task he would have to undertake himself as sitting through the almost three hours long discussion once was more than enough for him. He pulled out his cell phone and checked the messages left on his answering machine, - via the loudspeaker option, - and Jack's cheery voice blasted out at him…

"… _Hey Seto! I'm calling to let you know that Kisara's gone into labour. Naoko is on her way around to take care of Anathema and then the two of us are going to head off for the hospital. See you there..."_ _Beep_

"That's great news!" Rebecca stated as she witnessed the stunned look on her brother-in-law's face.

"… _Me again. Just letting you know that we've arrived at the hospital, the midwives have checked Kisara over and she and the baby are doing fine. See you soon..." Beep._

A proud smile crept on to Seto's face. "I'm about to become a father!" They'd already adopted Anathema, but this was different, this was _his_ biological baby.

"… _Is that guy still talking? Geez, he's a windbag! We've been here almost an hour now, how much longer are you going to be?" _There was a pause and several deep and rapid breaths could be heard down the line before Jack continued. _"That's the last time I listen to Ianto. 'Everything will be fine,' he says, 'just hop over to drop off the cards and presents, and then come back again, she won't go into labour'. 'HA!', is what I say! Hopefully we'll see you soon…" Beep._

"Was he hyperventilating?" Rebecca asked after hearing the slightly panicky message from the captain.

"… _Where the fuck are you Seto?!"_ The question was impatiently snapped down the line and more heavy breathing could be heard as the caller then attempted to calm himself. _"Kisara's coping well, but just watching her… makes me… god, I can't take it… secondary tokophobia's a bitch! PLEASE hurry it up…" Beep. _

"Tokophobia? Isn't that the fear of childbirth?" Seto nodded in reply to his sister-in-law's questioning. "But why would Jack be suffering from it, it's a condition that only affects women? And to have the secondary variety? That would imply that he's given birth himself; it makes no sense?! "

"Long story," The CEO sighed as he placed the cell phone back into his pocket. "I have to get to the hospital, but I can't just leave…"

"Yes you can." Rebecca stated firmly with a smile. "I can hold both forts on my own for a while. If I need more help, I'll call Ryou into work early." She shoved her workaholic brother-in-law towards the elevator before he had chance to argue his protest. "Now go! You don't want to miss the birth."

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Before re-entering the delivery room, the captain took a deep breath as he pushed back all of his anxiety so as not to cause more panic to his friend's wife. Her situation was stressful enough and she didn't need him making it anymore so. "How you doing? Any better since the midwife popped in?"

"No one has been in since you left." Kisara told him with her scared eyes close to overflowing. She winced at the start of another contraction.

Jack couldn't believe what he was hearing, especially since the midwife he'd spoken to had assured him somebody would be sent through and now realised that he'd merely been fobbed off. "Why that Raxacoricofallapatorian!" He grumbled his frustration by referring the woman to one of the vilest creatures that he could think of, and turned to leave the room again.

"Don't go!" The plea was too late as she watched her husband's friend storm out of the room and an angry muffled conversation in the corridor on the other side shortly followed. She groaned at the tremendous pain in her abdomen, face wrinkled up and several hot tears streamed from her eyes.

The door opened again and the midwife Jack had spoken to a little while earlier was steered into the room. "Just check her over." He ordered.

In an apathetic manner she approached the monitoring machine, tore off the printout after a quick glance and removed all of the connections from the pregnant woman. "You don't need this anymore, dear. Both you and the baby are fine so I'll just take this away and check back with you in an hour or so…"

"Oh no you don't." The captain shook his head disapprovingly as he refused to let the midwife leave the room. "You haven't even spoken with her about how's she's coping, or seen how far along she is, or …"

"Are you telling me how to do my job?!"

"Yes, I am; _you_ don't seem to be doing it properly!" He stood off against the shorter ageing woman, his temper frayed from the lack of attention that Kisara had received.

"I've had almost thirty years of experience in this line of work, I see this kind of thing day in day out …" She pointed back across to where the pregnant woman lay gasping in pain. "… and your wife there…"

"She's not _my_ wife, she's my _friend's_ wife." That sounded a lot better in his head than when it had been spoken aloud, giving the impression that he was the baby's father by being the one present with the expecting mother.

"…she's not yet ready to have the baby!"

"How do you know? You haven't _even _checked!"

"Jack!" Kisara's cry made him rush to her side as she struggled to cope with the discomfort from the contraction.

"It's okay Kisara, just breathe deep. In. Out. In. Out." He performed the actions he had told her to do, not only to encourage her to do the same, but also to help him calm himself. A sharp gasp suddenly left his mouth as he'd mindlessly taken hold of her hand again and her nails re-sank into his flesh. "And ease off the hand a little too."

The midwife slowly began to sympathise with the frustrated feelings of the man offering support to the scared woman. "I realise that this is a stressful and hard time for both of you to deal with…"

"You have no idea of just how hard!" Jack laughed as he tried to disguise all aspects of his own distress and aches.

"The labour process takes time, - especially when it comes to a first full term pregnancy, - so she could still be like this for hours to come before she's dilated enough to even attempt the delivery of the baby." She watched the silvery haired woman become more settled from the aid supplied by the captain at her side.

Using his free hand to brush back some of the long strands of silvery hair that clung to Kisara's hot sticky face, he asked the midwife, "What about getting her some pain relief? An epidural perhaps?"

"She needs to progress further before we can administer the …"

"Well, gas and air then?!" Jack had raised his voice again. "Anything to help ease her suffering!"

"I'll be back in a few minutes." The midwife left the room to go and fetch the requested nitrous oxide.

"She said I could be like this for hours Jack!" Kisara whimpered fearfully.

"If you look on the bright side, then at least Seto will be here by then." He joked and got a faint smile in return. More than anything, he wanted to run and hide. Loyalty to his friend and the pregnant woman was the only thing still keeping him the room right now.

"Did you get through to him?"

The captain hesitated for a moment. He didn't want to cause her any unnecessary worry so smiled as he lied, "Yes, he's on his way."

A moment later the ageing midwife returned with a gas canister. "Here you go dear, place the mouth piece all the way in and inhale deeply when you feel the pain strike again." She explained to Kisara how to use the pain relief before turning to speak with Jack. "We've got some more women, - who are nearing the final stages of labour, - arriving shortly and we need to free up delivery rooms to accommodate them. I'd like you to see that _'your friend's wife'_ is ready for moving onto one of the pre-natal wards within the next ten minutes."

"Will do." He nodded his agreement before massaging his aching,- but now free again,- hand and watched her leave once more before turning to the pregnant woman. "If you feel like sharing, I wouldn't mind some of that."

"Mine!" She teased before taking a deep breath, the nitrous oxide causing the back of her throat to dry out. After just a couple of inhalations the warm easing effect took over and the pain became more bearable. The tube was removed from her mouth so that she could talk again. "How long do you think it will be before Seto gets here?"

"I honestly have no idea." Jack admitted with a sigh.

Kisara took another lungful of the numbing gas and felt the contents of her stomach swirl. As swiftly and calmly as she could, the mouth piece was removed once more and with great effort she swung her legs over the side of the hospital bed. She felt the captain, - whose words of concern where nothing more than a blurb of unrecognisable sounds to her ears, - steadied and helped support her as she tried to make her way towards the bathroom. There was another more violent churn in her stomach and without warning she vomited all over the greatcoated man.

"Eww, that's not a nice look or smell." He jested in a slightly horrified and repulsed manner whilst still trying to assist the silvery haired woman who was now doubled over and crying from the excruciating pain she was in.

"I want Seto here!" She sobbed.

"Me too." Jack agreed. He wanted to crumble along with her as his feeling of anxiety built up inside him over the lack of control he had to be able to better the situations they were both in. "Me too."

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The Mercedes' horn blurted loudly and repeatedly as Seto jabbed it with frustration of being stuck in the city's traffic. He'd been stationary for close to ten minutes now and before that hadn't been travelling at anything faster than a snail's pace through the gridlock that had been caused by some human rights activists holding a protest nearby to try and bring some kind of further equality to all of mankind. _Why the hell didn't I just use the hopper?_

Jack's number was dialled on the CEO's cell phone as he only just thought to ring ahead and let them both know he was on his way, as well as the reason for his hold up. But there was no answer other than the message informing him that the caller's hand set was switched off, which he foolishly should have known it would be in order to comply with hospital guidelines. Impatiently he tossed the cell phone onto the passenger's seat next to him, and began to drum his fingers on the steering wheel.

_One-two-three-four, one-two-three-four, one-two-three-four, one-two-three-four…._

"Finally!" Seto exclaimed as the car in front crawled forward but then came to a rest again shortly afterwards. "I'd have better luck walking!" He grumbled out loud. _In fact, that's not a bad idea!_

He turned off the engine, pocketed his cell phone and keys, then stepped out of his car and slammed the door a little harder than he had intended. He then proceeded with his mission as he weaved between the vehicles to reach the sidewalk where one of the police officers overlooking the protest nearby called out to him. "Oi, you can't leave that there!"

"Just watch me."

"It'll be impounded and crushed if you continue on your way."

Seto glanced back to look at the shiny silver Mercedes one last time and sighed. God, he loved that car. But he loved his wife and their unborn child even more, which was why his pace quickened into a jog, and then into a run, as he set off in the direction of the hospital.

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Kisara had been moved down onto the pre-natal ward where she found herself placed amongst a room full of women whom were there to be treated for one form or another of complications relating to their own pregnancies. Despite the captain asking numerous times, not once had she been checked over to assess how far along she was with the birth or offered anymore forms of pain relief. As a last resort he had suggested to her that a warm soak might help to sooth the contraction pains, and so there they were in the bathroom filling the tub with water.

"There, that should do it." Jack stated after testing the temperature of the water with his arm and stopped the flow gushing from the taps. "I'll be right outside if you need me."

"But you can't leave!" Kisara exclaimed in horror.

"I have to."

"Why?"

The captain raised a puzzled looking brow in response to her question. "Shortly you're going to be getting into that tub, so the gown will be coming off and … well … you'll be … exposed."

"Have you never been around a naked woman before?" She asked in a surprised yet jeering tone.

"Oh, I've been around plenty in my time." He laughed. "But I can't stay with you now." It was becoming to much for him to handle being around her but still he continued to mask it as best as he could with using whatever situation at hand that he was able to grasp. "There's already assumptions buzzing around this place regarding the two of us and the lack of that husband of yours. All it takes is for some nosy journalist to blow the whole thing out of proportion and yours and Seto's public image would be at stake; so let's not provide them with incriminating material by me staying in here whilst you bathe."

"I'm having his baby!" Kisara stated forcefully as she tried to push back another wave of contractions. "And I know for a fact that Seto wouldn't care about whatever gossip was circulating in relation to us in his absence, as long as I had someone both he and I _trust_ to help me get through this with as much dignity as possible." Her voice was now less intimidating as she began to whimper in pain once more. "I need you to help me through this Jack."

His face twisted as he fought back his own feelings of discomfort. After hearing her reason and beg for his help he couldn't very well turn away from her now. "Okay I'll stay. But once you're in the water, then I'm going to focus on cleaning my coat in the sink over there until you need me to help you out."

"Thank you." She smiled before kissing and awkwardly hugging him to express her gratitude. Her gown was then removed and with his help she managed to climb over the steep side of the bathtub and submerged herself in the warm bliss of the water that rippled around her inflated figure.

Picking up his greatcoat, Jack strolled his way over to the sink to clean the now dried vomit away. His back was to Kisara and it was amazing just how much calmer he felt. "How's the water?" He conversed with her whilst scrubbing away. "Too hot? Too cold?"

"Perfect." She sighed in response. "I should have done this hours ago."

"Something to remember for next time then." He smirked.

"Next time?" Came a scoff. "If the midwife is right and I've got far worse to come then there won't be a next time. From now on when Seto wants sex he can sort himself ….Oowwwt!"

"Take deep calming breaths now." Jack reminded her as he figured she was indeed fighting off more contractions, whilst he too fought a battle of his own to remove the image that was now placed inside his head as a result of her last comment.

"I'm trying but they're getting so much stronger." The urge to push was also becoming too great for her to resist but she managed somehow. "There it's passed."

The bathroom fell silent.

"Do you have any children Jack?" Kisara asked after thinking back over to the joke he'd made earlier about having been pregnant.

Her simple and purely innocent question struck him like a red hot blade to his heart as. "No." He lied with silent tears slowly falling for both his daughter and grandson, and the unspeakable act he had done almost four months ago.

"Do you think you'll have any with Ianto perhaps?"

"That'd be impossible for us; two men remember."

Kisara rolled her eyes at the captain's words, of course she knew that they wouldn't be able to conceive together. "I meant via a surrogate mother. Though why any woman would willingly put herself through this kind of torture …. Oooooowwww!" Hot tears raced down her face. "Damn it, _where_ is that husband of mine?!"

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"Excuse me ..." Seto panted as he finally reached the front desk of the hospital's labour ward. "My wife … was brought in here … earlier ..."

"Name please?"

"Kaiba." He stated still trying to catch his breath from all the running and stair ascending he'd done. "Kisara Kaiba."

"I remember her." The woman stated as she entered the information onto her keyboard. "First timer, wasn't anywhere near ready enough to give birth."

"Really? ... But she's been here several hours already? Where is she?!"

"We moved her downstairs to the pre-natal wards in order to make room for the _more_ _expectant _women."

"To which one?" Seto managed to ask calmly through gritted teeth; part of him annoyed at having needlessly just climbed the stairs and the rest of him eager to be with his wife.

"I don't know sir."

"But you sent her there!" He now growled in frustration.

"Yes we just send them, you'll have to ask downstairs which one they've assigned her to"

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The water had turned murky and cold, it's soothing benefits now gone, causing Kisara to finally accept it was time to get out. Carefully she pushed herself up and over the side of the tub to walk straight into the towel waiting for her as Jack stood there holding it with his gaze diverted.

Once wrapped up in it she began to dry herself down as best she could. More pain erupted within her. Looking down she saw droplets drip from both her body and hair to form a shallow puddle at her feet were faint swirls of coppery burnt orange and red churned with the water. Kisara pulled back the towel from around her legs to see that it too was covered in traces of blood, and with her hand she followed a trickling stream up to where she felt a patch of moist hair that she knew wasn't hers. "_Jack!_"

"What is it?" He asked in reply to the terrified cry of his name.

"The baby's here."

Foolishly the captain turned to face Kisara and saw the newborn crowning between her legs. _Holy fuck! _"Okay, stay calm!" He said as he guided her several steps to the right for her to take hold of the support rail to steady herself. "I'm going to get you some help, so stay right here."

Frantically she nodded still clutching the towel around her and made no attempt to stop her husband's friend from leaving as she watched him swiftly exit the room.

"Help!" Jack's voice sounded down the corridor as he searched for any member of staff he could find. "I need help here! My friend's wife is having a baby, like _right now_ having a baby!"

"Are you sure sir?" A midwife asked him as she speedily strode to his side with several more of her fellow colleagues following in her wake.

"Don't believe me then go and take a look for yourself." He gasped, beginning to hyperventilate and shake on the spot where he stood.

The midwife did just that and called out to the rest of the women behind her. "He's right. We're going to have to deliver this baby right here and now."

"But you can't!" Kisara protested, appalled at what she had heard. "Not _here,_ in a bathroom!"

"Trust me ma'am, the baby isn't going to stay in there much longer. It's fare safer to deliver it now then risk getting you to the labour ward."

This wasn't how Kisara had envisioned or planned things. It was supposed to be a momentous occasion, one she'd hope would run according to plan. After the disastrous luck they'd had with their engagement and wedding day, she'd hoped for better for the birth of their child. Maybe if she had heeded her husband's advice on the overly exclusive, - not to mention outrageously expensive, - maternity hospital he'd suggested, instead of assuring him that a regular one would suffice, then things might have been different? And where was Seto anyway? He should have been there by now.

"Easy does it now." Steadily the midwife eased Kisara away from the safety rail and lowered her down on to the now discarded towel lying on the floor. Over her shoulder the midwife called out to the woman's birthing partner, "Sir, can you come around and help support her from behind?"

No answer.

"Sir?" She looked round but saw no sign of the man so had to rely on one of her colleagues instead.

Outside in the corridor, Jack staggered further away from the bathroom still struggling to breathe as he fought against the palpitations threatening to break his chest. He hadn't wanted to leave his friend's wife on her own back there, but found it necessary to remove himself from the situation before all hell broke loose within him. _I'm sorry Kisara._

Now that his breathing was under control once more and feeling like a complete and utter failure for abandoning her at such a vital point, the captain saw no further need for his presence. He picked up his pace and began to navigate through the twisting halls to find the exit, passing by staff wearing various attires of blue and white, though one clearly stood out from the rest as the man caught his eye from afar. _Seto?_

"Seto!" The captain shouted and waved frantically to make sure that he caught his friend's attention. "Over here!"

"Jack!" The CEO exclaimed in relief and abandoned his search for the reception desk as he strode over to him at a quick pace. "Where's Kisara?"

"She's down here." He pointed the way he had come and retraced his steps as he began to lead Seto round to where he knew they'd find his wife. "Why the hell did you choose to wear a white suit today?"

"Do I tell _you _how to dress?"

"No." Jack shot back with almost as much irritation as he had received and tried to mask his discomfort of the returning palpitations as he barked, "Walk quicker or you're going to miss the birth!"

The two men then broke out into a run and arrived at the bathroom in next to no time at all. There they saw the naked expectant mother on the floor as she lay propped up by the midwife crouched down behind her.

"Seto!" Kisara's eyes sparkled with joy at the sight of her husband racing towards her. Her brows then narrowed on him. "Where the hell have you been?"

"Sorry Honey, the traffic was horrendous." He told her whilst changing places with the woman behind his wife. "I'm here now though." _Why the hell isn't she in a delivery room?!_

Seeing the young woman's face scrunch up once more as she prepared to endure the next bout of abdominal pain, the midwife at Kisara's feet instructed her to push. "Almost there."

"That's it Honey." Seto encouraged whilst he grimaced through the pain of his wife's fingernails digging into his hands as he held her. "You can do it."

Her efforts came to an end as Kisara let out a combined gasp and cry of having painfully felt the baby's head exit her body. Exhausted, she laid back on her husband and stared up at him. "Seto?"

"Yes?" He spoke tenderly and cleared a clump of hair that clung to her face only to reveal a questioning glare.

"A white suit? … On a day like today? … Seriously?"

"Are they not in fashion this season?" He joked back, now only too aware of the faux pas he'd made since he now found himself knelt on the tiled floor in a shallow puddle made up of water, amniotic fluid and blood.

"You _are doing _wonderfully." The midwife praised Kisara. "The head's out; airway's nice and clear. When you're ready, one final push should get those shoulders out and the rest of the body will easily follow."

A joyous laugh escaped from Kisara as she realised that the hardest part of the birth was over and wasn't set to be a million times worse like she had been fearing all thanks to the words of the ageing woman whom had 'attended' to her on the labour ward upstairs. Bearing down with the next urge she felt, her baby was then completely delivered and quickly placed onto the bare flesh of her stomach. "I did it!"

"Congratulations, it's a boy." The midwife smiled before then placing a small plastic clamp onto the umbilical cord and then focused her attention to the removal of the after birth.

"That's our baby Seto!" Kisara spoke in awe and wonder, excitedly glancing back at her husband whilst still in his hold. "That's _our _baby."

For a moment the CEO could do nothing but stare in amazement. Out of all the things he'd ever accomplished this was by far the most miraculous to him. Up until just a couple of years ago, - after having spent the majority of his life thinking that he'd been completely ruined by that evil stepfather of his,- he had never once considered himself to be able to live a life that consisted of anything other than his own arrogance, shame and solitary. _I win, you bastard! You may have altered my mentality but you failed to destroy me. _

"He's beautiful, just like his mother." Seto stated, his thoughts now withdrawn from the past and refocused on the here and now. He kissed his wife lovingly on the top of her head and reached out to touch the tiny hand of his son using just the tip of one finger. "Hello there little guy."

The newborn murmured a cry as though in response to his father's greeting which caused both parents to smile even more proudly.

"So you're the one who's been kicking me all this time." Kisara beamed and carefully raised her baby to her breasts, gently guiding him to latch on to her nipple and suckle.

Excitedly Seto looked across to the doorway in hope of seeing Jack's reaction to the new addition to his family. But there was no sign of him. Concerned for his friend's wellbeing he turned to the midwife he had replaced a short while ago. "Excuse me but could you take over for a moment?"

They exchanged places again and he gave his wife another kiss before leaving her side. "I'll be right back."

Having acknowledged the extreme anxiety his friend was sure to be feeling at being placed in the uncomfortable situation for him, Seto strode out into the corridor to offer condolence only to find the captain unconscious on the floor and surrounded by several midwives. "Is he okay?"

"He just fainted." One of the women informed him of what had happened. "He should be fine after a little bit of rest. Don't worry, we'll take care of him."

"I'm sure he'd like that." Seto smirked at the thought of Jack waking to be surrounded by so many women fussing over him. He knew it couldn't have been easy for his friend to have confronted his phobia but was extremely grateful that he had stuck it out and been there for Kisara during his absence. _Thank you Jack._

Carefully the midwives shared the unconscious man's weight between them and moved him off the a more comfortable place to recover whilst Seto returned to his wife and child. Yet more fatherhood lay before him, something he knew that he was more than capable and prepared to handle. And oh boy, what a dad he intended to be.

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**A/N:**

** If ever there was a self insertion in my fics then this would be it as Kisara's experience is practically identical to my own.**

**This fic will come to a halt for the time being as I plan to continue releasing the rest of the fics in this saga in their chronological order from now on. Chapter 3 will be added in due time.**

**KG**

**'''''**

**Seto: Please tell me you aren't seriously going to release that monstrosity you made up inspired by the new movie promo pic.**

**KG: Lucky for you I can't. It's not long enough, I'd have to flesh it out.**

**Jack: Do it!**

**Seto: No!**

**Jack: *pouts***

**12: Wrap it in a Christmas setting and release it as a side story.**

**Seto: NO!**

**12: Don't listen to him, go ahead and do it, just don't upstage me on the telly.**

**Seto: *sarcastically* Like that's a hard task to do.**

**12: *angrier than usual eyebrows***

**Jack: Don't fight you two, she's already penning more to add to that 'monstrosity' and it'll be up on …**

**KG: December 24th.**

**Seto: I hate you.**


	3. Tragedy

**Timescale: Set after 'A Red and Blue Eyed Paradox' - ****Seto aged 34**

**Chapter Three**

_I HATE hospitals. _Seto thought as he sat in the solitary confinement of the small family waiting room. The quieter they were, the more terrifying they became to him. Their silence only allowed and encouraged his subconscious mind to drown himself in a wave of thoughts that an otherwise occupied or distracted mind would have had the power to keep at bay.

Hunched forward with his elbows resting on his knees and a glazed blank stare present on his face, he continuously turned over the black cube that he held with both hands. The actions were meant as a way to try and focus his thoughts onto his current Torchwood investigation but still his mind wandered back to just over an hour earlier. _Please let her be okay!_

_#"I love you too Honey." Seto bid Kisara goodbye before placing the phone back down into the port on his desk in his Kaiba Corp office._

"_How is she?" Rebecca asked after catching the end of the conversation she had walked in on._

"_Busy from the sound of things, but assures me she's taking time to rest." He smiled sadly at the thought of his heavily pregnant wife looking after their two young children whilst still struggling to overcome the bout of anaemia she had developed earlier in her pregnancy. It couldn't have been easy on her own, especially since the annoying friend who was usually there to help was currently away on a work endowed trip. "Just a couple of more months and then she'll be even busier. And not long after that so will you."_

"_You too, don't forget." She shot back, reminding him that Torchwood would soon be a team member short once she started her maternity leave. "But I'll be back as soon as ..."_

"_No Becky, you take all the time that you need." He assured her that there was no rush in her returning to work once the birth was over with. "Enjoy your family; kids are only young once. The four of us can manage without you for a while."_

"_Are you sure Seto? Honestly?"_

"_Yes. I have full confidence in my team,- all of them,- and their abilities. Now what is it you wanted? You don't usually leave the basement to come all the way up here to my office." _

"_I was wondering if I could,- if it's possible,- leave a couple of hours early today? I don't want to seem like I'm taking even more advantage of your generosity, but these past couple of days I've begun to feel extremely nauseous in the afternoon and evenings..."_

"_Say no more, just go." He practically ordered her as the phone on his desk began to ring. "You're no use to me if you can't focus properly on your tasks." _

"_Thank you." She replied with a gracious smile before leaving him to answer the call.#_

Unable to cope with the solitary silence any longer Seto had left the private side room. The buzz and chatter from the other people seated waiting for news on their loved ones didn't distract him like he'd hoped. In fact it only seemed to make it worse as he became more nervous himself and now paced back and forth down the corridor leading from the main waiting area and towards the operating theatres.

"Sir, I'm afraid you're not permitted down here." A nurse attempted to communicate with him but was getting no response whatsoever. "Sir?"

His expression may have been vacant but the CEO was well aware of the goings on around him and had purposely chosen to ignore her as the black block in his hand continued to be handled as though it were a Rubik's cube he was trying to solve.

"Leave him, he doesn't seem to be posing any threat or obstruction." Another nurse advised the first and the two of them left to provide further assistance in the theatre they had been called to.

His eyes diverted from his cube in order to watch them leave and caught sight of yet more staff in scrubs who were stood around discussing the next plan of action in relation to their patient.

"...bleeding's quite extreme, we have to do something!"

"Terminate the baby."

"Before she lost consciousness she was adamant that we were to save the child above her own life."

"That _fetus _is just 23 weeks old, it _isn't _going to survive on its own and her life would be _wasted_ for nothing!"

"We can't go against the patient's wishes! Not without overriding consent from her next of kin."

"What about him?"

Seto's eyes burned and narrowed angrily at seeing a finger pointed his way as they all turned to look at him. _You won't get that consent from me! I made a promise and I damn well intend to keep it!_

"If we don't act now we could lose them both!"

_#"So you think they're hiding something from us?" The CEO asked as he held the phone next to his ear and studied the black cube in his other hand. _

"_Oh I know so." Jack answered on the other end of the line. "The way they're not willing to share what they do know and keep insisting that it's some ridiculous marketing campaign; they're concealing something."_

_It had been almost a week since the small black cubes had started to show up all over the world. Their origin and purpose remained a complete mystery, so naturally Torchwood had taken up the case as had UNIT. Neither group had claimed to have made any kind of progress or breakthrough in their observations that had concluded in nothing but a lack of results all round. Whatever these things were, they seemed indestructible and a complete enigma to behold._

"_Maybe, they just don't want to admit that they're as clueless as we are." Seto suggested as he gently tossed the block up in the air and caught it again._

"_Call it a hunch, but I sense that they are definitely keeping us in the dark over this. After the double-crossing stunt that they pulled on us by laying claims to Van Statten's haul, I wouldn't be surprised if ..."_

_There was a loud CRASH outside the building that caught the CEO's attention from the conversation at hand. He glanced down at the street below to see that two cars had collided and caused one of them to mount the pavement were it came to rest and had trapped a blonde haired woman beneath it's wheels. His eyes widened in horror. "Jack, I have to go! Carry on this investigation with Ryou."_

_The phone was carelessly dropped on his desk as he raced out of his office and towards the elevator where he slammed his fist hard on the button to summon it. "Come on!" He grumbled his frustration whilst waiting for the doors to open._

_Once they had begun to open Seto dived inside where two of his employees also stood. "Get out or hang on!" He told them as he entered his authorisation code into the control panel. Neither of his staff had moved from their spots but where swift to mimic him and grip the side rail as the doors to the metal box closed. _

_Rapidly the elevator plummet straight down the shaft as a result of the overriding command and came to a jolt upon arrival at the ground floor. The CEO made his exit before the doors even had the chance to finish opening, leaving his two rather nauseous employees behind to regain their equilibriums. _

_He sprinted across the foyer of his building towards the entrance where a gathering of curious employees had formed as they each craned they necks to try and get a better view of the incident outside."Get out of my way!"_

_The crowd obediently dispersed to leave their boss' path clear before reforming to gawk as they watched him weave between the traffic that had been brought to a standstill._

"_Becky!" Seto's concerned voice sounded out above the disorder as he pushed passed several people, one of whom he could clearly hear reporting the accident to the emergency services. His eyes now fell upon his sister-in-law trapped beneath the car's front wheels. "Becky, speak to me!"_

"_S-seto." She whimpered at hearing the sound of his voice before bursting out into tears. "I can't feel my legs!"_

"_Just hold on. I'm going to get you free." He assured her now kneeling down on the ground surveying the situation up close. It was hard to tell just how badly she'd been injured. One thing for sure was that the vehicle needed to be moved._

_More spectators gathered around as they came closer to see what all the commotion was about. Not a single one of them provided him with any kind of assistance as he tried and failed to push the wheel back off Rebecca's crushed legs. _

_Out of the corner of his eye Seto spotted a smartphone held up capturing the whole ordeal. A red mist descended upon him. "What the FUCK is wrong with you people?!" He roared angrily as he leapt at the youth, knocking the phone clean from his hand for it to fall and smash into pieces on the ground. _

_Murmurs and whispers began to circulate in response to the sudden outburst from the CEO who stood flexing his fingers back and forth into a half-fist trying to suppress his anger. It wouldn't do him any good to further lose his cool in the situation at hand. "Don't just stand there! Come and help me move this thing!" He commanded in an attempt to take control. "Please."_

_The driver of the vehicle that had mounted the curb and hit the blonde had been taken to one side by some of the first people on the scene in an attempt to help calm his shaken nerves and shocked state. He got up from where he sat on the hood of a nearby stationary car and approached to offer his help by placing his hands underneath the front bumper._

_With a nod of thanks, Seto positioned his hands inside the wheel arch. "On the count of three we lift; one, two, three!" They weren't strong enough by themselves to lift the heavy weight but as more people came forward to aid them the car slowly began to rise up and Rebecca was pulled free. _

_THUD! The wheels hit the pavement as the vehicle was let go of by those lifting it. Seto was swift to be back by his sister-in-law's side and removed his suit jacket to provide a makeshift pillow for her to rest on._

"_How bad is it?" She asked with red waterlogged eyes still unable to feel anything in her body's lower half._

"_I can't say." He answered truthfully not knowing just how badly she had been hurt. Thankfully there seemed to be no signs of heavy bleeding. "The ambulance is on it's way..."_

"_My baby!"_

"_Shhh." He tried to provide comfort for her panicking thoughts of the unborn child she was carrying as he took hold of her hand._

"_Make sure they help my baby!" Rebecca squeezed his hand tighter than anything he had ever felt before. She was more than aware that the paramedics would most likely overlook the under developed life inside her. "Promise me Seto. You have to intimidate them. Don't let them … I don't want to lose my baby..." A gush of tears drowned out her plea._

"_I promise you Becky; I'll do what I can." #_

_CRASH!_

The doors to the huge waiting area were swung open with such force from Mokuba's entrance that they smashed loudly against the walls. "SETO?!"

Hearing his brother's agitated voice that spread and travelled down the corridor snapped the CEO from his thought's. He headed back towards the open area placing the black cube down onto a table, were several more stood, along his way. "Mokuba!"

"Where's Becky?" The younger brother asked fearfully as he dashed over.

"They're operating on her as we speak." Seto informed him as he took hold of his brother's upper arm and steered him down the corridor he'd momentarily emerged from, in order to gain more privacy between them. "They're doing everything that they can, but you have to listen to me..."

"Mr Kaiba?"

"Yes?" Both of them answered as they turned in response to the female doctor's querying.

"The husband." She elaborated.

"That's me." Mokuba said stepping closer towards her.

"Come this way please." The doctor insisted and began to lead them towards the smaller side waiting room.

"Mokie, there's something that you need to know..." He intended to tell him about Rebecca's plea in an attempt to uphold and re-enforce the promise that he'd made to her, but after entering into the smaller room his brother's attention was then drawn back towards the doctor who wasted no time in revealing the information she had come to deliver.

"I'm afraid that your wife is in a severe, critical condition."

"Severe? Critical?" His voice was weak and frail as a newfound terror of losing his wife began to seep into his heart.

"We've done all that we can in order to stabilize her as best as we possible could given the hindering circumstances..."

"Circumstances?"

"Your wife's insistence that we focused on your unborn child, whom she too is also in a critical condition..."

"She?" Mokuba felt muzzy as he struggled to process the news he'd been told. He swayed slightly and was thankful that his brother had been there to catch and help steady him.

Ever the professional and remaining calm after having been interrupted twice, the doctor nodded before continuing with her news deliverance. "Your daughter's untimely arrival, during only the second trimester, means that she is extremely underdeveloped and is being cared for as best as we can in the neonatal unit. Your wife on the other hand remains in the operating theatre. She's haemorrhaging so badly from the reopened wound obtained during her previous Cesarean section that performing a full hysterectomy may be her _only_ chance of survival. For that we'd need your signed approval."

_I'm here for you Mokie. _Seto clasped his brother's shoulder tightly as he helplessly watched him drown in perturbation of being forced to agree to the removal of Rebecca's womb. His heart ached to see him placed into making such a drastic decision and a pang of guilt tugged hard at knowing that the situation could have been avoided had he not helped to reenforce his sister-in-law's wishes.

"Do it." Mokuba ordered sternly as he stared the doctor head on. He raised his hand and forcefully pointed towards the door. "You go in there and do _whatever_ needs to be done to save my wife. I'll sign _any_ paperwork you hand me."

"Yes sir." There was a nod of confirmation. "I'll have someone bring you all the required documents." She swiftly left the small waiting room to inform the surgeon of the actions that were to be immediately performed.

At hearing the door close, and with his brother now being the only other person in the room with him, Mokuba allowed himself to drop down on to one of the chairs. He pressed his face down into the palms of his hands and struggled to hold back the brewing sorrow, frustration and anger that was trying to escape him. _This has to be a nightmare, someone please wake me up!_

Seto frowned in sympathy and held back his own discomfort as he felt the need to uphold his sibling duty. He silently approached the row of chairs and calmly seated himself next to his brother. His arm raised and tenderly came to rest across the other man's shoulders. "You okay?"

"Yeah." Mokuba lied with his head still in his hands.

The two sat in silence for a while. Neither one of them was willing to confess to how much they were hurting inside but still took comfort in the other's presence beside them as that itself was enough.

Eventually the younger brother broke the stillness as he raised his head and wiped his sleeve across his enlarged red eyes. "What ever happened to common sense? If they had acted sooner then this could have been avoided."

"They were just following procedure." Seto stated as he tightened his arm's hold and drew his brother that little bit closer.

"Well procedure didn't to Becky any favours now did it?!" Mokuba snapped angrily as he threw the arm from off his shoulders. He felt his eyes and throat swelling once more. "She could still die in there. And as for our daughter, … - they carry out abortions further along than see is,- … maybe it would have been kinder to … to just let her go ..." Gushing sobs cancelled his words as he thought of their slim survival rates.

"So far they've both proven to be fighters; that's something that must have rubbed off from you."

"Oh please, we both know that I'm not the fighter of this family." He used his sleeve to wipe his eyes once again as he responded to the attempted words of comfort that had been spoken.

"Of course you are, and have been since day one." Seto gave a warm earnest smile. "You were born premature too and look at you now." He also wanted to make sure that there was no feeling of resentment towards Becky for the choice she had made so went on to elaborate, "If mother's wishes had been ignored then you wouldn't have been given that chance to prove them all wrong and be here today."

"You don't know that bro." Mokuba scoffed at his brother's attempt to try and keep his spirits high.

_Yes I do!_ He managed to keep the reply to himself despite the fact that he just wanted to scream it out loud. Sitting through their mother's last moments for a total of three times had been extremely painful, but not as much as the accidentally altered timeline were his brother had ceased to exist as a result of their father's interference during that 'second' time around. But of course he would never reveal anything about his rogue time travel mishap and so endured the metaphorical knives of his brothers words.

The door to the waiting room opened once more, interrupting the returning silence, and a nurse entered carrying a wad of papers. She approached the younger brother. "Mr Kaiba. Sir, I need you to sign these for me please."

He took the paperwork and pen handed to him and immediately started to scrawl his signature in all the required spaces.

"Aren't you going to read those through first before you sign them?"

"Tch." Mokuba rolled his eyes before delivering a disgusted glance at his brother whom he knew could be the only person capable of thinking about company policies during a situation like they were in right now. "They're for Becky's operation! I doubt that someone would have slipped anything in there that will swindle me out of my empire."

_It's not that I'm worried about._ _They could have slipped in a procedure that you may not fully agree with. _Seto kept the remark to himself as he backed down from the confrontation that would otherwise break out between them._ But you've already stated that they're to do 'whatever'_ _ in order to save Becky, so what use is my heeding going to do?_ He was clearly aware that once his brother was in an aggravated mood there was little chance of dissuading him. Ever. It was a trait he wished he'd never allowed him to mimic and blamed himself for having set such a poor example in the first place.

Now that they were all signed, the wad of papers was handed back to the nurse. "Thank you. If you'd like to come with me I can show you to your daughter." She began to move back towards the door only to see both men remain seated.

Frozen with the daunting thought of seeing his child struggling for survival caused the younger brother to blindly reach for the other's hand. "Come with me Seto."

"Of course I will." He assured with a brief firm grip in response to his brother's continuing roller coaster state of emotions.

They both rose from their seats and followed after the nurse.

There was silence between them as they walked down the halls, each brother lost in his own thoughts until Mokuba put voice to his wonderings. "Bro, how come you were one of the first on the scene?"

"The accident happened right beside Kaiba Corp. I merely went outside to see what all of the commotion was about."

"So you were there with Becky the whole time?"

"Pretty much. Once I realised she was trapped underneath the vehicle I wasted no time in freeing her. Shortly after that, I called you."

_But what was she doing there in the first place?_ The younger brother sank back into his thoughts as he eyed his brother suspiciously with a strong feeling that something was being kept from him. _The museum where she works is all the way across town, so why was she outside Kaiba Corp? Was she going to see Seto? Why?..._

"We're here." The nurse announced as they arrived outside a small private room on the neonatal intensive care unit. Blinds hung in the huge window beside the door were closed to provide privacy and prevent eyes from passers by peering in. "Before we enter, I have to ask that you don't touch any of the equipment in the room."

Both men nodded to confirm their understanding and agreement. They were then permitted to enter the room as the nurse held the door open for them, before she disappeared back down the hall to process her paperwork. Inside the room they saw an incubator surrounded by numerous pieces of technical monitoring equipment all being observed by the neonatologist in charge as he consulted the many displays. Within the incubator itself lay the small, fragile, dark salmony coloured baby who had multiple wires and tubes attached to her body.

"She's so tiny." Mokuba gasped tearfully as he looked at his daughter whom he estimated to be barely bigger than his hand.

Seto silently agreed as he stared both disturbingly yet wondrously at the life he'd helped to ensure was given the chance of survival that she would have otherwise been denied.

Turning his attention towards the neonatologist the younger brother questioned the purpose of the tubes and wires. "What are all those for?"

"She's unable to breathe on her own so needs the endotracheal tube inserted to connect her to the ventilator." He began the explanation with the scary looking pipe taped securely in place inside the helpless baby's mouth. "The drips are there to provide fluid, nutrition and oxygen supplementation. On her chest is a sensory patch to monitor cardiac function. And the electrodes on her head are for overseeing brain activity. I understand that it may look horrifying, but it's all necessary since her low gestation means that her organs are greatly under developed." As an afterthought he than added, "She unfortunately has some bleeding on the brain too."

"Is she is pain?"

"It's hard to know for certain and just how much. I can't imagine all those catheters being the comfiest of things either."

"What are her chances of survival?" Mokuba was now close to tears with each fact that had been revealed.

"In all honesty; not good." The neonatologist admitted truthfully. "Going by past experiences of babies born just as prematurely as her, I'd say she has around less than a 20% chance. And if by some miracle she _does_ manage to pull through, then there's a good 70% plus chance that she'll be severely disabled."

_You didn't have to be so straight forward!_ Seto glared disapprovingly at the white coated professional who obviously had no compassionate skills to accompany the delicate line of work he was in. _He's already worried sick without you adding to his troubles …_

"I'm sorry, I need to leave!"

The older brother was snapped from his thoughts as his weeping sibling rushed by him to exit the room. "Wait!" His concerned call didn't have any effect and without hesitation he was swiftly on his brother's trail.

Outside in the corridor the younger CEO continued to sob as he fought a losing battle of concealing his sorrow and grief. With a weakly clenched fist he struck out at the wall beside him before his body then slumped as though in defeat. _It's not fair! What did they or I ever do to deserve this? Oh please, let them both be okay..._

"Mokie?" Seto spoke softly as he cautiously approached his grief-stricken brother. "I know that at the moment things look bad, but given the circumstances ..."

"She wouldn't have wanted this!" Mokuba cut across his brother's words as he wiped the tears from his eyes. "If Becky had known our daughter would end up like..." He pointed sharply back towards the side room they had exited. "... like THAT, then she wouldn't have asked for her life to be saved."

"Do you honestly believe that?" His words had sounded harsher than he had intended but he needed to break though the hysteria beginning to consume his younger brother.

"Yes I do, because believe it or not, I actually know my wife better than _anyone_!"

"Then you know that Rebecca wouldn't have made such a decision so lightly and would have been well aware of what was entailed to see to your daughter's survival."

Mokuba's fist clenched and shook by his side. His brother was supposed to be providing him with words of comfort yet had spoken to him so sternly and bluntly. "Were you there Seto? When she asked them not to prioritise her?"

"Yes."

"Then why didn't you talk her out of it? Surely _you_ would also have known that this would be the outcome?" He stepped closer towards his big brother, staring him down in the process. "Why didn't you make Becky see sense and stop her from making such a drastic decision?"

"The undying love she has for that child would not have allowed anything to sway her." Nervously Seto wet his lips, aware that his brother was not going to like what he had to say next. "I even promised that I'd help to enforce it."

"What?! Why?"

"Loyalty. She's family, and you know where I stand when it comes to such matters." He could understand his brother's frustration with him. After all, at one point in time he'd have done anything possible to make sure that the Hawkins girl didn't ever get the chance to share the Kaiba name. The fact that he was concealing their involvement with Torchwood as well, didn't seem to be making things any easier either. _Perhaps I should tell him?_ … _You can't! That would only rise his temper … But I can't hide it from him forever. Surely sooner would be better than later?... _With his brother's cold narrowed glare wearing away at his conscience, he needed a distraction. "Let me get you a drink, it'll help you to calm down and clear your head."

"My head's fine." Mokuba seethed as he watched his brother walk away from him and towards the water cooler a little further down the hall. _How could you do this to me Seto? You should have gotten them to focus their efforts on Becky; even if it meant the baby's death. Who knows, we may even have had the chance to try for another? But not now! Your actions lead to the tarnish of the woman I love as well as force my daughter to suffer whilst I'm left helplessly watching by the wayside. Both of them I stand to lose … because of you! _His fist tightened. _Where was your loyalty to me?_

There was a black cube positioned on the paper-cup dispenser of the water cooler which Seto idly tossed down to one side on the floor. They were becoming so common place over that last few days that they could be found anywhere and everywhere, so much so that nobody seemed to care anymore. He pulled out a cup and filled it with water before returning to his brother. "Here, take a few mouthfuls of this."

"I don't want it." The younger brother spat with a venomous tone. "In fact, I don't want anything from, - or to do with, - _you_ _EVER_ again."

"You don't really mean that Mokie." Seto sighed deeply and offered the cup forward once more, well aware of the emotional mood swing causing his brother's heart to currently overrule his mind and ability to think straight. "That's just your irritation talking."

"Not this time." Mokuba knocked the cup from his brother's hand. "This time I mean it. I'm done with you Seto; you've hurt me for the last time."

"I know that you don't agree with the way things have played out." The older man spoke calmly and softly as he watched the cup's contents seep out across the floor. "But nothing was done today with the purpose of causing suffering to either of them. Or you. It wasn't intentional..."

"IT _NEVER IS_ WITH YOU!"

The raised and contused tone of his brother's voice made Seto look at him once more. The face now staring back he'd only ever seen one other time before when they had argued in his office over the engagement approval that had been sought,- and denied,- all those years ago. Only this time the look of the angry and frustrated narrowed brows over the sorrowful and hurt gaze was intensified to the extreme.

"Just like it was _never_ intentional for you to put me through all that torment and abuse as part of your twisted mind game to topple Gozaburo? What about all the times you _abandoned_ me, cast me aside and shut me out during our youth when I needed you most? Or the _continuous_ petty arguments that you made sure erupted in relation to my choice of friends, _especially_ when it came to Becky? In fact, I bet this ordeal today is just a continuation on that to get back at us both since you _NEVER_ accepted her into our family! Am I right? … AM I?!"

_Don't retaliate, it will only make things worse! _Seto bit on his tongue to keep himself from talking. As much as he wanted to deny it,- or at least defend his past actions,- his brother's words had been true at pointing out the times he'd caused such heartache. All except the last accusation. "You _need_ to calm down."

"No, I _need_ to be rid of _you_." Mokuba said as he stepped away so that his actions emphasised the words he had rashly spoken and would not go back on. "I refuse to walk behind and cower in your shadow any longer. Goodbye."

_Wait! _Seto desperately reached out to stop his brother from leaving and was completely taken by surprise at being struck on the left side of his face. He staggered, tripping over his own feet, resulting in a fall that lead to him hitting his temple hard on a nearby cube before he finally came to rest on the ground. With a wince he pushed himself up into sitting position and his fingers immediately found their way to the bleeding gash above his right brow.

"You better pray that Becky pulls through." The younger brother glared down hatefully. "Because if she doesn't, you'll have worse injuries than that. Now get out of my sight before I'm tempted to hit you again."

_I won't leave you like this._ Under vicious eyes, the fallen man returned to his feet, met the stare and defiantly stepped forward. _If I have to withstand your wrath whilst your head clears then so be it._

Angered and fuelled by his hunger for dominance, Mokuba launched himself at his brother, slamming him hard against the wall before unleashing perturbed fury in a bout of pummels to his torso.

There was no resistance whatsoever though Seto allowed himself to grimace at each blow he received whilst not a single sound left his mouth. Enduring such a beating like those from the days of his stepfather was very much like riding a bike; once you learnt, you never forgot.

_Damn it bro, fight back!_ His rage gradually came to an end as the strikes became less forceful. With a pang of guilt breaking through his molten armour, Mokuba let go and took a step back to survey the damaged he'd inflicted. _Oh my god!... What have I done?..._

Seto stood slumped against the wall. Though he felt weak and in pain from the thrashing he'd received his eyes shone warmly for the brother whose stored up negativity had now been spent. Seeing the remorseful look on the younger man's face his head rest back against the brickwork, eyes closed and a relieved smile tugged at his lips. _It's okay; everything is going to be okay._

_I'm sorry … I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to… _Mokuba's apologetic thoughts trailed off as he saw his brother's mouth curve upwards. The misinterpretation of what he assumed was a self satisfied smirk ignited his fury even higher than before._ Oh, I should have known! You never change! This is all just a game to you isn't it? A game that you think you've won! Well I have news for you … _He swiftly thrust his knee forward.

The sudden pain in his groin made Seto double over and he felt himself thrown to the floor.

"Does it hurt, _brother_?"

There was no reply to the snarled question that had been asked.

_Answer me!_ Now with a tenacious desire to gain superiority Mokuba drew back his leg and forcefully swing it forward to kick his brother whilst he was down. He was rewarded with a yelp from the assault that had shattered several ribs. "I said, _does it_ hurt?!"

"Yes." Seto whimpered. His eyes were scrunched tightly as he writhed in agony, trying to coil up to protect himself from further hostilities. "It hurts a lot."

"Good." The younger brother sneered in triumph. "Maybe now you understand the kind of suffering you helped to impose on my wife and daughter."

Not knowing what else he could do to attempt to bring his brother back down from the rage that had consumed him, Seto surrendered with wide eyes that practically begged for mercy. "I'm sorry."

"Sorry's not good enough." Mokuba hawked and spat down on his brother's face before walking away. "Have a nice life."

An arm trembled as he reached out for the turned back. "No, please … Mokuba … don't ..."

But it was too late. The door to the side room slammed shut and left the battered CEO alone where he lay. His outstretched arm dropped to the floor in forced defeat.

_Don't leave me._

_88888888888888888888888888888888_

"Like this Mokie, look!" Anathema demonstrated how to wash her hands in the hope that her younger brother would copy her actions.

He did, causing the soapy bubbles to rub between his multicoloured hands and clear the paint away.

"Oh what a clever big sister you've got!" Kisara praised in a silly voice as she helped her son to make sure that his hands were completely clean and then dried properly, now that their messy fun filled activity session was over.

"Can we play now, please?" The little girl asked excitedly.

"Of course you can." She replied with a smile and watched the two children disappear out of the washroom hand in hand as they returned back to their playroom.

With the mess cleared up and both children also sorted, Kisara could now focus on herself. She looked at her appearance in the tall mirror hanging on the wall and smiled fondly as she removed the apron concealing the growing bump on her front. It wouldn't be too much longer now before her expected due date. Gently patting her bulge she spoke to her unborn child. "Enjoy the peace and quiet whilst you can because you've got two very excited siblings and parents who won't give you a moments rest once you're here. Well I will, but I can't say the same for your father, brother and sister."

The sound of the front door closing carried down the hall, and deciding to delay her grooming for a little while longer, she raced off with a waddle to greet her husband after his hard day's work at the office.

"Welcome home, how was your day?" Kisara asked as she approached him, his back to her as he still faced towards the closed front door. She assumed the lack of reply indicated his usual refusal to discuss things whenever he'd had a particularly demanding or chaotic day. "Lucky for you, you just missed all the mess. You wouldn't believe how far Mokie can flick paint across a room."

Now by his side she went to wrap her arms around her man only for him to recoil from her touch. "Don't!"

"Seto?" Confused by his actions, she sought answers. "What is it, what's wrong?"

Slowly he turned to face his adoring wife, whose feelings he knew he had just hurt, and heard her gasp at seeing the state of him as dried blood clumped his hair together and partially revealed the deep cut he'd acquired. There were further signs of blood on his shirt and suit which was unkempt and crumpled, and a dark purple bruise just about covered the left side of his face.

"Daddy!" Anathema excitedly came running onto the scene and flung her arms around him only to let go the moment his scream of agony filled the air. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" She apologised repeatedly as Kisara then steered her away to one side.

"It's okay, go back and play with Mokie."

"I didn't mean to hurt Daddy!"

"I know Baby, and he knows that too." She kissed the panicky girl to help calm her. "Don't worry; you just go and play and have fun now."

Anathema nodded with a feint smile and made her exit.

Once she had gone, Kisara rounded on her husband who had made his way over to the staircase and used its balustrade for support as he stood there breathing heavily in his attempt to try and regain his composure. "Let me see." She demanded.

There was no chance to protest as he had been too slow to stop her from peeling up his shirt to reveal the discolouration beneath the white scars of his past as well as the broken ribs poking his skin upwards.

"No wonder you didn't want me to touch you." She frowned and suppressed the internal urge of wanting to seek a bloody and painful revenge against whoever had harmed the man she loved. Empathetically she glanced up at him. "What happened?"

Seto hesitated for a moment as he tried to string sentences together in his mind before he spoke aloud. "There was an accident outside Kaiba Corp … Becky … car … it hit her … critical … the baby …" He turned away with pursed lips and eyes watering as he found it too difficult to continue with his explanation.

"Poor Becky." Kisara whispered sadly. Clearly seeing that he was distraught from the experience she wanted nothing more than to pull him close to her, but held herself back in fear of causing him more pain from touching his injured body. Gingerly she raised her hand and stroked his arm to at least provide him with a little comfort. "That doesn't explain what happen to _you _though."

Silence.

"Darling, who did this? Who hurt you?"

More silence.

"Talk to me Seto."

His waterlogged eyes returned to meet hers and his mouth trembled as he tried to form his brother's name. But it was no good, he didn't have any strength left to reveal the identity of his tormentor or details about the fight they had resulting in them parting ways. Instead he collapsed down onto the stairs and gave a strangled sob.

Kisara seated herself beside her husband and placed an arm around him to entice him closer to her. "You're home. You're safe. Nobody can hurt you here."

Shakily, Seto's hands raised and grabbed hold of his wife. He clung on to her whilst he buried his face in her shoulder and wept harder than he had ever done before.


	4. Transportation

**Chapter Four **

Gravel crackled and crunched beneath the wheels of the frost blue Lotus Evora once it had exited the garage. Steadily it was driven along the driveway and came to a stop at the end of the path leading up towards the mansion. The driver's side door opened and Seto stepped out holding the small remote attached to his keys which he aimed back at the garage to close the huge metal shutter and concealed the rest of his luxury automobile collection from view.

He pocketed his keys as he made his way back towards his home's open front door and noticed yet another black cube littering his path despite the fact that he had cleared them all away earlier that morning. _Where the fuck are these things coming from? _Swinging his leg he kicked it as far into the air as possible. _Looks like I still got it. _He commented on his soccer skills as he watched it soar high into the sky until it was out of view.

"Ow!" Kisara's voice sounded from the doorway where she clutched at her bulging abdomen whilst struggling to carry the holdall in her grasp.

"Here, let me take that for you Honey." Seto said as he raced back to her, taking hold of the bag with one hand and helped guide her towards the car with the other.

"Once this baby's born, I'm not letting you anywhere near me _ever again _Seto Kaiba! We'll have separate beds from now on. Separate rooms even; we've got more than enough to spare."

A smirk tugged at the CEO's lips from hearing his wife's jest. "I seem to remember you saying a similar thing last time and you never followed through with it." He placed the holdall in the trunk and held the passenger door open for her.

"What's that?" Kisara asked curiously as she stared up into the sky to see something red hurtling closer and closer.

He followed her gaze and instantly started moving her back towards the mansion as what looked like a London double decker bus was almost upon them. "Get behind me!"

Like an aeroplane coming in for a landing, the bus hit the driveway and sent a wave of gravel in the direction of the couple as it ploughed into the Lotus, sending it spinning to one side. Still maintaining momentum it continued on towards the garage where it come to a stop after crashing into and crumpling the shutter that tore free from it's fixed position, bringing with it some of the brickwork and roof.

"Are you okay?" Seto asked his wife with concern, after having successfully shielded her from the tiny pebbles that had rained over them like a shower if bullets. He received a speechless nod in response and then turned his attention towards the wrecked car that had once been the pride and joy of his collection. _Somebody is going to pay dearly for this!_ "Stay here, I'll be back shortly."

_Beeeep! Beeeep! Beeeep!_

Support beams and tiles belonging to the garage roof caved in as the bus reversed. Apart from the previously damaged top of the vehicle, it bore no signs from the wreckage itself. It stopped and the doors opened for a blond haired man to speedily alight.

"I think I'm going to be sick!" He staggered away before falling onto all fours, battling to keep hold of the contents of his stomach.

"Rory!" A red headed woman followed and after receiving a hand gesture from him that he'd be okay she turned back round to the man sporting a bow-tie. "Your friend, Is, Crazy!"

"No she's not." He protested. "She's just a little bit free spirited."

"Tomato, tomato!" She scoffed the same word differently each time and returned to her kneeling husband.

A dark haired woman with bangs appeared in the bus' doorway. "Thanks for the forcefield. That landing could have been a million times worse if you hadn't acted back there."

"Yes well, we wouldn't have crashed if you had made sure that you weren't low on fuel." The timelord shot back. "Luckily no-one was injured."

"Amy, is that a Bugatti?" The blond asked as he peered into garage.

"You mean was; it's completely totalled now." She replied. "There's a Ferrari too, and what I think is,- was,- a Lamborghini. Plus maybe a couple more that I can't identify." Her brow furrowed at the thought of the cost of the destroyed luxury motors and their owner's reaction. "Somebody's not going to be a happy bunny when they see this _that's_ for sure."

"_WHAT_ in the world is going on here?!" Seto demanded angrily as he stormed onto the scene. His narrowed vision dangerously panned across the four strangers before he caught a glimpse of his now-destroyed garage and collection. _It's not enough to ruin just one car, you had to destroy all of them?!_

The dark hair woman grinned unsympathetically. "Sorry to cause such a mess. We'll be out of your hair shortly." She returned back inside the bus with the doors folding shut behind her.

"Christina!" A fist banged against the closed door demanding it be reopened. It wasn't which left the bow-tied man no choice but to turn and face the peeved CEO. "Yes … well … erm ..." He stammered, trying to come up with an explanation.

With a hefty sigh at seeing him helpless falter, the red head came to her friend's defence."Londinium Flight Experimentation Division. Don't worry, we're fully insured and can compensate all damages." She reached inside his suit pocket to retrieve the psychic paper she knew would help to certify her made-up cover story.

"No, no, no! Amy wait!" The timelord's cries came too late as the battered looking wallet was held open for the other man to see.

_You have got to be kidding me? _One of Seto's brows was raised questioningly as he viewed the blank document. Only two people he knew had ownership to such a thing that manipulated simpler minds, and since this clearly wasn't his flirtatious friend... "The Doctor I presume?"

"You presume right." He gave a nervous laugh, slightly relieved that he wouldn't have to re-introduce himself like he had done with Lady de Souza. "There's no fooling you is there? Even with the new face."

The CEO continued to gaze at the man he knew to be centuries older than him, yet here he was looking far younger. _How is it possible for him to appear more youthful than he is? Surely his next stage of regeneration would have still aged him accordingly? If he continues like this then he's going to end up as a child in that big blue box of his. I wonder where that is right now?_

"Is there _anyone_ you don't know?" Amy jeered as she shoved the psychic paper back at its original owner.

"There's plenty. Time and space is an extremely vast place."

"Seto!" Kisara's voice called out as she informed him about her contractions. "They're getting more frequent!"

"What's more frequent?" The Doctor seemed concerned, almost panicky. "What's wrong with her?"

"She's having a baby." Seto gave a sigh of frustration as he wiped a hand across his face, unsure of just what he was going to do next.

"Then what are you wasting your time standing around here for? You'd better get her to the hospital. And quick!"

_No shit Sherlock! _Seto held himself back from screaming at the timelord whom he was now glaring at dubiously. "What do you _think_ I was trying to do before you showed up and destroyed _every_ car that I own?"

"Ah!" The Doctor glanced at the concertinaed Lotus and then the ruins of the garage where the bus had come to rest. "This is awkward." He thought fast. "Rory!"

At being summoned, he got back up on to his feet and came swiftly over to join them. "Yes."

"This is Seto; though I expect that'll be Kaiba to you. Seto this is nurse Pond..."

"Williams." He corrected, sick and tired of the timelord referring to him by his wife's maiden name.

"... I suggest he caters to Kisara's needs whilst we work out some other form of transportation for you." The bus was given a scanning over with the timelord's eyes as he spoke.

More concerned about his wife's welfare than arguing back with the man he disliked, Seto lead Rory,- with Amy also in tow,- back over to Kisara.

"What's going on over there?" She asked her husband upon his return with the two strangers.

"Nothing for you to be concerned about." He assured, taking her hand in his. "Apparently this guy is a nurse..."

"I _am_ a nurse!"

"... he's going to look after you for a little while whilst I sort out a few things."

"Don't leave me!" She now gripped his hand with both of hers.

"It won't be for long." With his free hand Seto gently brushed aside his wife's hair and rest his palm against the side of her face. His thumb stroked back and forth along her cheek to provide additional reassurance through the affectionate gesture.

"I'll stay with her too." Amy spoke up to catch the CEO's attention. "I'm not a nurse but I've been through the whole scary childbirth thing myself, so I may be of some use in providing additional comfort with having had a _vaguely_ similar experience."

He nodded his gratitude for the woman's willingness to assist before he turned his attention back to his wife who slowly let go of his hand. Cupping her face and leaning in closer he kissed her. "I'll be back soon."

The gravel crunched once more as Seto strode forcefully back towards the red double decker where he caught the tail end of a disagreement between the woman and timelord inside the vehicle.

"I'm commandeering this bus and that's final!"

"But it won't run without more fuel!"

"Well we'll just have to get some then." The Doctor alighted and was glad to see the man he was after stood right before him. "Seto! I've got you some wheels but she needs refuelling."

"What type do you need?"

"Gold."

"Gold?" He repeated skeptically. "Is that some gas brand I'm not aware of?"

"No no, _actual_ gold."

"The purer the better." Christina added with a grin as she came into view over the timelord's shoulder.

_Do they honestly expect me to believe that? _Seto stared at them both whilst still trying to process the ridiculousness of what he'd be told. _Why the hell would anyone create a vehicle that's fuelled by gold? Surely that quack's just trying to see how much he can fleece out of me! _He glanced back to see his wife being comforted by the couple who stood one at either side of her. There was no way he was going to just stand back and let her suffer a second terrible birthing experience, which she most likely would at this rate, so gave a reluctant sigh to signal his cooperation with the timelord's request. "Okay, follow me."

_88888888888888888888888888888888_

Kisara now lay on the ground with her back propped up on the woman's lap, legs spread wide and skirt hitched up as the male nurse examined her below. She scrunched her eyes tight as she fought back another painful contraction and silently prayed that this birth would be more dignified than the first.

"From what I can see you have plenty of time before the baby starts showing." He announced pulling the skirt back down to conceal her modesty once more. "But then again, I'm not a midwife so I could be totally off..."

"Rory, that's not helpful!" Amy barked at her husband.

"Sorry." He apologised sheepishly and helped his patient back on to her feet. "We should get you somewhere more comfortable. Are you sure that you don't want to go back inside your home?"

"I'm sure as I don't think I'd be able to make it back out again when it comes to nearer the time for leaving."

"We should just head for the bus." Amy suggested as she placed an arm around the pregnant woman to help her walk. "Knowing Raggedy Man, we're going to be traveling to the hospital on it anyway."

"But it crashed!" Kisara exclaimed still not quite sure if she had actually seen or just purely imagined the double decker fall from out of the sky, though there was no other explanation to where it could have come from. "It won't be in any fit state to use now."

"We had a forcefield in place; there isn't a scratch on it."

"It's a shame that the same couldn't be said for those cars." Rory mumbled as he mourned the loss of the bright red Ferrari that he'd always wanted, even though it wasn't actually his to grieve for.

Silence fell upon them as they slowly walked down the gravelly drive.

"Are you having a boy or a girl?" Amy attempted to make small talk to banish the stillness and keep the other woman distracted from any worries she may have had.

"A girl."

"Do you have any names picked out?"

"A few." Kisara smiled fondly at the small list of choices both she and Seto agreed on, though she was actually quite keen to just go ahead and use a name he'd suggested. Keiko Nikita Kaiba; it had a certain ring to it.

"Melody is a nice name..."

"Rory!"

He gave a sigh at being scolded by his wife yet again. "Wish we had the chance to call her that. You know, whilst she was still small. Whilst she was ours."

"She still _is_ ours!" Amy's voice sounded almost tearful.

"I know, and you knew what I meant..."

"Sorry to interrupt, but I think my waters just broke."

The three of them stopped and looked down to see the damp patch on the gravel beneath Kisara's feet as the amniotic fluid trickled down the inside of her legs. A sign that the baby was one step further to starting her arrival.

88888888888888888888888888888888

After entering the mansion via one of the back doors, walking down several hallways, up a staircase and along yet another hallway, they finally arrived at Seto's office. The heavy mahogany doors were pushed open and he grudgingly invited them both to follow and enter his personal retreat.

"You never told me that you were friends with people of such wealth!" Christina exclaimed at the timelord as she gazed in amazement around the traditionally decorated office. A huge two toned pedestal desk with a tall back leather chair was the instant focal point upon entering the room. To one side various bookshelves and cabinets lined along an entire wall, and on the other hung several paintings of dragons above smaller filing cabinets, house plants and a couch. "This guy's loaded!"

"It's something he's worked hard for over his lifetime; don't go touching _anything_ unless otherwise told." The Doctor shot back to his companion whom he knew had once been a thief but had since turned over a new leaf, though he felt the warning necessary to help fend off any temptation she may have.

"Roger." She grinned back.

The CEO lead them over to the display cabinet. Inside it there were numerous trophies, plaques and awards he acquired over the years. Some were gold, some platinum. Others were made out of carved crystal, marble or onyx and engraved with various precious metals. _I can't believe I'm allowing this! _He pulled the doors open and gestured for the woman to take what she needed.

"Where'd you get this?"

Seto turned to see that the timelord had wandered and now stood beside his desk holding a frosty looking,- almost transparent,- cube with his company's logo on it. _Hypocrite! You tell her not to touch... _"It was a gift."

"From whom?" There was a look of awe in the Doctor's eyes as he turned over the Gallefreyan artefact in his hands. _You have no idea what this is! And you're using it ... as a paperweight. _He glanced up to see an annoyed stare fixated on him and gave a frustrated sigh. "That look clearly says you're not going to tell me."

Resisting the temptation to pocket it himself and knowing that further questioning about the psychic container wasn't going to get him anywhere, the timelord placed it back on the desk where he'd first found it and stepped back. "How's your brother?" He casually inquired whilst slowly making his retreat back to the other man.

"I wouldn't know." Seto muttered as he broke visual contact and returned to watching the darkly clad woman rummage through his display cabinet. _Why did he have to mention Mokuba?_ His stomach tied in knots and heart ached at the thought of his brother who had renounced him a couple of months previously.

"Of course you would! You two are the closest brothers … I know ..." The Doctor fell silent. _Oh, it's 'that' time. _He came to a stop beside the saddened man and purposely positioned himself so that he'd be in view to grab his attention for when he next spoke, his voice low and sombre as he did so. "You know as well as I do that that boy speaks with his heart and it overrides him at times. Whatever he's done, whatever he's said..."

"He doesn't mean it?" Seto cut him off with an icy glare that melted far too quickly. "He means it alright; he deserves to mean it." Swiftly he turned away again to try and hide his vulnerability as his lip begin to quiver.

"Just give him time." The timeloard assured. He may not have got along well with the elder of the two brothers but it still pained him to see the face of the usually strong willed man look like it would burst into tears without warning at any moment. "It won't always be this way Seto. You'll make amends. Hand on hearts, I guarantee it."

_Is he pitying me, or is he actually being sincere? _Blue eyes glanced back and sideways until they were in the corner of their sockets and saw the earnest look on the seemingly younger man's face._ That quack knows; he's seen it._ His spirit lifted a little and a weak smirk formed on his lips. "Whatever happened to spoilers?"

"There are times when I consider some spoilers deserving of being leaked. This just happens to be one of them." The Doctor grinned at seeing a hint of light return to the stare focused on him. He knew it wouldn't stay there permanently, which was what had allowed him to break his own code of rules in order to provide the brief comfort and hopefully ease the emotional decay that was still to come.

For once Seto felt no bitter feelings towards the other man but still he remained inquisitive._ What could you possibly have to gain by letting me know such information?_

The timelord broke eye contact. _This is getting awkward. Creepy even. Who'd have thought we'd ever be civil to each other? Time to change the subject!_ "Right, let's have a look a what you've got here." He bounded over to the display cabinet and scanned over row upon row of accumulated awards, reading aloud the ones that caught his eye the most. "Interactive Achievement, Deming Prize, World Business, Codie, Japan Prize, oh and a People's Honour Award! That's a pretty impressive collection!"

_Damn right it is!_ Seto thought to himself smugly, more than a little overly pleased with himself as his usual feelings for the timelord returned. _Still think you're better than me Doctor?_

"Hmm, I don't see a Turing Award thought." The Doctor frowned almost mockingly at the lack of the highest distinction award for computer science. "Shame, I thought you'd have at least one by now." He turned to the man behind him, a haughty expression on his face as he declared, "I've got two. Okay they're both under pseudonyms and one of them's a joint effort, but that's still two more than you."

Seto bit down on his tongue determined not to give the enraged reaction expected of him after being taunted like he had. He'd been nominated for the award in question several times now, but unfortunately his contribution to holographic technology was seen more in the field of entertainment instead of science which had lead to his dismissal each time. "_Some_ of us have corporate empires to watch over and command. We can't all go gallivanting through time and space living the life of Riley, and poking our noses into affairs when and where it's not wanted."

The snide retort was ignored as the Doctor continued his scanning of awards. "Didn't you used to be a Duel Monsters champion; where are those trophies?"

Now it was the CEO's chance to do the ignoring as he turned to the woman stood holding a trophy for recognition of his corporate philanthropy. "Are any of these sufficient for your needs?"

Christina shook her head. "They're too small."

"We could weld some together."

"No." She scoffed at the timelord's proposal. "I'm surprised that the botch job you did last time lasted this long. We can't risk the joints rupturing and my bus crashing again."

"How big would it have to be?" Seto was eager to get the bus operational once more so that they could get Kisara to the hospital in time for her to give birth. He watched the woman gesture with her hands as she estimated the size of the vehicle's steering wheel and became a little disheartened when he realised he had just the thing she needed. _Give it up, it's for a worthy cause._

He strode away from the other two and came to rest in front of a painting showing two dragons locked in air combat. A hand rose to sweep down the side of the frame that then slowly lifted upwards to reveal a safe door beneath it. His irises were scanned and the door opened to reveal a large circular item wrapped in purple silk. Once it had been removed from it's resting place, the safe was closed and concealed by the painting once more.

"Here, take it!" He forcefully thrust the still wrapped item in his hands towards the dark haired woman. "Take it now, before I change my mind."

Christina took hold of the item and carefully peeled the folds of silk back to reveal a huge shiny and solid gold award plate. Her eyes gleamed at the sight and her mind raced as she tried to calculate its monetary worth. _Seems such a waste to have it sacrificed like this. No wonder he didn't want to let it go._

The Doctor's eyes widened at what he saw but displayed the complete opposite feeling of the woman next to him. "We can't take this Seto."

"_Yes_ Doctor, you can." He stated in response to the use of the Duel Monsters Championship trophy that Pegasus had once awarded to him all those years ago. Engraved upon the plate were the details of over a dozen consecutive tournament wins recording his time as the number one duelist before … Why did it still hurt for him to think of that first duel against Yugi? "There's no questioning about it. This is my past, my wife and children are my future." He smirked. "You're supposed to be smart so you do the math."

The timelord nodded his understanding of the man's reasoning of giving up something treasured for something he longed for and would treasure more. "Okay, let's get back to the bus."

_88888888888888888888888888888888_

The doors of the bus swooshed open and the Doctor was the first to leap on. "Ah Ponds, you're on board already!" He exclaimed joyfully at the sight of his two companions and the pregnant woman.

"Well you know what they say, _great minds think alike_." Amy shot back as she came closer towards him.

"That they do." He laughed nervously and made sure to keep his distance from Kisara as he watched her laid propped up on the refurbished interior,- that now no longer resembled the public transport it had been originally designed as,- whilst she rummaged through the holdall that had been retrieved from the wreckage of the once beautiful frost coloured car. "Right, let's get this thing back in the air where she belongs!"

Turning on his heels he doubled back to the driver's compartment where Christina was hammering away at the shiny gold plate in order to get it to cover and bend around the steering wheel. "Is something wrong?" He asked the horrified and baffled face of the CEO stood watching the destruction of his once prized possession.

"Is this heap of junk seriously going to fly?" He still couldn't believe that he'd excepted the concept so easily despite have witnessed it crash earlier, not to mention that he'd seen equally as crazy concepts since having met the timelord. "I don't see how it's possible just by fixing the trophy in place like that."

"Of course it is. There's crystals and hover pads in place too. But try not to think about the science behind it all. If you do then you'll likely to just give yourself a hernia as we both know that I can out science you any day."

Seto opened his mouth ready to argue back with the Doctor only to hear his name called by his wife. He abandoned the would-be confrontation in order to return to the woman he loved and be by her side. "Hey, how are you doing so far?" A kiss was planted on her slightly clammy forehead.

"Fine thanks to these two." Kisara smiled as she indicated the Ponds standing close by. The bus began to shake whilst she spoke as it took to the sky to begin its journey.

"She's been the perfect patient." Rory stated.

"Not to mention perfect company too." Amy added. "Makes a change to know someone who's so nice and down to earth, unlike having to put up with _Lady de Snooty-pants _over there."

"Oh not this again!"

The CEO watched the nurse roll his eyes in response to his wife's seemingly jealous statement and smirked to himself. _Good to know I'm not the only one who doesn't like her. How that quack hasn't seen through her yet I'll never know..._

"Sorry to interrupt your conversation." It was as though the timelord had somehow sensed he was being thought about. "Seto, you're needed up front for navigational purposes."

There was an inward groan at being made to part from his wife again. "It won't be long now." He assured her and gave another kiss before hurrying off to the drivers cab, passing by a retreating Doctor along the way.

Amy watched him go and noticed her friend slowly easing himself further away from them. She left her husband and the pregnant woman's side to go and talk with him. "Oi Raggedy Man, you okay?"

"Of course I am." He replied with a forced cheery smile. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"I dunno." She frowned mocking. "You seem a little out of it. Uneasy even."

"Yes, well there's a perfectly good explanation for it." The timelord stared at Kisara,- who winced as she conversed with Rory,- glad that his face was different to the ones she had seen.

"Which is?"

There was a brief pause of silence before the Doctor's attention was drawn back to his concerned friend who had pressed him for further information. "Do you remember the Dalek invasion from several years back?"

"That does sound vaguely familiar."

"Kisara is one of the two women who saved you all. Without her, the Earth wouldn't be here today. In fact the whole universe as we know it would cease to exist."

"Then I must go thank her..."

"Amy no!" The Doctor grabbed her arm tightly as she had began to move away to express her gratitude. "You can't mention _anything, _I repeat _anything, _about it to her. That woman has literally been inside my head and I had to erase _all _of what she saw, and then some, for her own safety. She can't know, she must _never_ know."

"What will happen if she does?"

A fearful chill went through him as he thought about the disastrous outcome of the woman's fate and the undoubtedly guaranteed reaction of her husband. He was unsure which terrified him most and swallowed the lump forming at the back of his throat. "Then all hell would break loose."

There was a tone to his voice and look in his eyes that told Amy he was being more than metaphorical. As inquisitive as she was, she didn't fancy not heeding to his plea. For this instance at least she decided that perhaps somethings would be best left unknown.

"Doctor!" Rory's urgent voice sounded out as he came rushing over. "How much longer until we reach the hospital?"

"Not long I should imagine, we _are_ travelling by air after all."

"Good, because she's dilating fast and I fear that the baby may make an appearance sooner rather than later."

"Can't you just poke it back in?"

"It's a baby, not a jack in the box!"

The angry and annoyed response he'd received from the blond in relation the the joke he had made caused the timelord to physically jump. It was uncanny how much alike both Ponds could be; no doubt they were a perfect match for each other and would share that bond for an eternity to come. He turned his head and yelled, "Seto! Christina! How much longer?"

"Almost there!" The woman replied. "I'll be landing any moment now."

"Is something going on?" The CEO asked as he raced to them.

"Your wife's having a baby."

Seto stared at the Doctor with a dumbfound expression on his face. "I hope you're not expecting a medal for your observation skills. You've already been given a trophy by me today; you're not getting another." He then continued on by towards Kisara.

"I like him." Amy smirked as she watched him go.

"Oh well you would!" The timelord exclaimed in response. He'd never felt more ganged up on in his life.

"Brace yourselves, we're coming in for landing!" The driver called out and a moment later there was a soft bump as the double decker came to rest on the ground once more.

Outside on the hospital grounds several people stared in astonishment at what they had just seen. It was a feeling to be short lived. Once their eyes had seen the CEO of Kaiba Corp through the windows, it was merely accepted as another eccentric publicity stunt of his. He'd been known for many over the years,- including that one time he'd sent Duel Monster cards into the Earth's orbit,- that nothing seemed to take them by surprise anymore. Curiosity cured, they went about their business as usual.

"She's going to need some assistance getting from here to the building." Rory informed Seto stood rubbing Kisara's back in an attempt to provide comfort and help ease her pain. "I'll go inform them of the situation and bring back a wheelchair."

"I'll come too." Amy leapt into stride with her husband as he made his way down to the front of the bus. "You know, for back-up since I know how uncooperative they can be and how much of a push-over you are at times."

"No I'm not!" He argued back, offended by her words though he knew they weren't completely void of truth.

"Oh for crying out loud!" Seto grumbled under his breath. He and his wife hadn't suffered and come this far only to have some incompetent hospital staff refuse to deliver the care expected of them. Yet another kiss was given before he made his parting. "I'll ..."

"Be right back." Kisara tearfully finished his sentence.

He smiled at her sadly knowing that he was beginning to sound like a broken record and felt guilty at continually abandoning her before turning to leave. "_YOU_, keep an eye on her!" A finger had been raised as he spoke sternly to the timelord.

The Doctor nodded and watched the man on a mission step down off the bus, closely followed by Christina as she intended to gave her vehicle a check over on the outside. He glanced over to the pregnant woman but still he kept his distance as he loitered halfway down the bus' gangway.

"Oww." She cried in pain at the contraction that felt like it was ripping her abdomen in two.

_I can't just stand here; she needs me… No, you have to stay back … _The timelord battled his inter-self as he resisted the urge to help Kisara.

"Oww."

… _But I promised … A nod is hardly a promise … It is to me!..._

"Owww."

… _I can do it, she hasn't seen this face, she won't know who I am!... _

"Owww!"

… _Do you really want to risk it?..._

"Oowwwwww!"

"_Yes_ I do!" The Doctor suddenly darted to be beside the silvery haired woman as he could no longer bare to see her suffer alone any longer."It's okay Kisara, I'm here."

"Who are you?" She shot back at the stranger now holding her hand.

"It's not important, what _is_ is that I promised Seto I would watch over you until he returns."

More pain surged below and her face crumpled up tightly. "What's taking them so long!"

"They barely just left!" His hand was being squeezed so firmly that it almost brought tears to his eyes.

"It hurts! It hurts so much!"

"I know!" The timelord whimpered as he bit down on his lip and feared that his hand would be forever deformed throughout the rest of his regenerations to come. He attempted to keep her spirits up, "Just think, soon you'll have a wonderful bundle of joy as your reward, and all your discomforts will be over."

There was a scoff. "Sleepless nights, dirty diapers, barf everywhere, sore breasts, vaginal stitches..."

"Oh-kay, _that_ doesn't sound very joyful at all. Whoever thought up that phrase was _extremely_ stupid and quite clearly male."

Kisara laughed.

The Doctor smiled at seeing her amused though failed to understand what had been so funny to invoke such a reaction. Still he was glad to see her cheerful again and felt his consciousness niggle inside him._ Ask her. _His voice was serious as he spoke,"Are _you_ happy Kisara?"

"Of course." She replied. "Childbirth doesn't last forever..."

"No." He smirked at her misunderstanding and nervously repeated his question. "Are _'you'_ happy? With Seto?"

"What?" Shocked by what she had been asked she let go,- much to the timelord's relief,- of his hand. This guy seemed to be in the same mindset as her best friend. What was so difficult for them both to believe that she had found the man she loved and was destined to be with? "W-why wouldn't I be? Why ask me such a thing?"

_Idiot! You said too much._

Blue eyes narrowed on the timelord. "I know you."

"No Kisara, you _don't_!" His voice was now harsh as he tried to maintain a calm composure over the mistake he had made. _You only have yourself to blame for this fiasco, don't take it out on her!_

"Oww!" Another contraction erupted and made the expectant mother curl every part of her body that she possibly could in an attempt to try and ease the pain. All thoughts of the man standing next to her left her mind as she called out for the person she sought comfort from the most. "Seto!"

"I'm here!" His breathless voice sounded as he re-entered the vehicle as though having been magically summoned out of nowhere. He skidded to a halt by her side and greedily gulped back air into his burning lungs from having ran on ahead of the couple pushing the wheelchair. "I'm here Honey … I'm here for you … You're going to have to stand … I know it'll be hard but … lean on me for support."

Doing as she'd been told, Kisara gradually got to her feet. With the help of her husband and Rory who'd also appeared to assist in escorting her from inside the bus, she was soon at the doorway and guided to the chair with wheels waiting for her.

"And we're ready to roll!" Amy stated as she and Rory raced off back towards the hospital with the silvery haired woman.

Seto entered the bus one last time to retrieve the holdall containing his wife's things.

"You take care of her now." The Doctor told him. His face bore a shaken expression from the near disaster he had almost foolishly caused. He received a nod of acknowledgment in response. "And yourself too."

"Thank you." The CEO turned to leave. As he came to descend the vehicle's steps his path crossed with Christina as she was about to ascend them too. He carried straight on, raising his free hand to grab the woman's upper arm and forced her backward with his hold.

"Hey! Let go of me!"

His eyes narrowed dangerously. "I'd like it back."

"Pardon?" She gasped as the look tore into her yet remained unfazed. The grip increased. "_Let go_, you're hurting me."

The timelord had heard his companion's first alarmed cry and was now on the scene. "What's going on? Seto release her!"

Reluctantly he did as instructed. "Your little friend here thought she could steal from me. Assumed my 'preoccupied' mind hadn't seen her and that she wouldn't be caught."

"What? Is this true?" The Doctor stared disbelievingly at the woman and awaited her response.

"I don't know what he's talking about. I never _took_ his precious Sapphire."

"Just goes to show that you're a liar as well as a thief." Seto scoffed as a pernicious grin grew on his face. "I never stated what you had taken."

The timelord watched the battle of two strong and stubborn wills, unsure of which of them to believe. Knowing about both their pasts he was convinced that Christina was the exception to the phrase _'once a thief, always a thief'_ yet knew that Seto wasn't the kind of man to throw accusations around lightly either. "Enough games, Christina did you take _anything_ of his that you weren't supposed to?"

Now finding herself under the strain of two sets of eyes, she began to flounder. Unlike the cold harsh glare she received from the blue pair,- a look she'd encountered many times and had learnt to grow undaunted to,- it was the questioning and pleading of truth from the hazel pair that actually broke her. Very few people had ever regarded her capable of showing integrity like he had, and it almost wounded her to admit she had let him down. "I'm sorry."

The Doctor watched in stunned silence as she reached into her jacket pocket and pulled out the gemstone that was so big it was impossible for her to conceal it completely in her single handed grasp. _How could you deceive me? Why? I trusted you._

Now that his property was held before him to take, Seto wasted no time in reclaiming it from the woman's now trembling hand. He had chosen to delay the confrontation until she had transported him and Kisara to the hospital thus making sure he had gotten what he wanted from the situation that would have otherwise left them stranded back at his mansion. There was a smug triumphant glint in his eye and curve to his mouth. His scorn for her was successfully held back as he felt she had wasted enough of his time already, and he speedily set off to follow after his wife.

"Oi, your missis is waiting for you!" Amy jeered as she and Rory were about to pass by the CEO as they travelled in opposite directions and receive a salute of thanks for the help they had provided. She then looked on to see her friend staring coldly at the woman she disliked only for him to turn sharply and enter the bus. "Uh-oh, something's going on."

The two of them picked up the pace and arrived back at the vehicle as the Doctor exited the vehicle once more. Underneath his arm he clutched the huge battered looking gold plate. "Come along Ponds."

"Isn't that needed for the bus?" Rory queried as he approached the timelord.

"To enable it to fly, yes. But I intend to have the trophy straightened back into shape and returned to were it rightfully belongs."

"Y-you can't do this." Christina said with a trace of hysteria in her voice knowing that he was angry with her for the deceitful act she had committed. Still, at least she held a trump over him to stop the abandonment she feared. "You can't get back to your blue box without me!"

"Oh, I have my ways." The Doctor replied calmly. He reached inside his jacket pocket and pulled out a vortex manipulator.

"Is that River's?" Amy asked.

"I confiscated it; she was being a _very_ naughty girl." He raised his eyebrows towards Rory. If only the blond had been aware of the mischief that had been caused by her continuously yo-yoing back in time to hide the keys to his precious Mini.

"Need I remind you that I'm her_ father_? I know she's a grown woman, but what you two get up to in your own time is _none_ of my business. Believe it or not, there are some things that me and Amy just _don't_ need to know about the two of ..."

"You can't _LEAVE ME_ here!"

The Doctor's attention was diverted and he stared almost pityingly at the woman now crying before him. "I'm afraid this will be the last that you see of me."

"_Please_, give me another chance."

"I already did." His voice was strident and portrayed exactly how he felt. "You had my uttermost trust, and you abused it. _That _I don't take kindly to." Buttons were pressed as the coordinates of his time machine were entered into the inferior device and he bid his finally farewell. "Goodbye, Lady Christina de Souza."

Taking hold of the two companions beside him a white light then surrounded them and transported all three to onboard his TARDIS, leaving the double decker and its 'owner' alone on the hospital grounds.

_8888888_

**A/N: It's been such a long time now that I can't remember who it was, but it was suggested to me by one of my readers to feature a Doctor Who character that I didn't like. And so here's Christina de Souza; does anybody like her? (she'll always be _Zoe'you ain't my mother!'Slater_ to me :P)**

**I cut _a lot_ of amusing banter between Seto and 11 from this. It just didn't seem to serve any real purpose to the story so unfortunately it had to go :(**

**KG**


	5. Take That

**Timescale: Set after 'Let It Go!' - Seto aged 38**

**.**

**Chapter 5**

Seto paced slowly around the bedroom, akin to how he imagined his majestic dragons might guard something so equally precious. His posture was altered slightly with his shoulders more drawn back than usual as he supported the tiny infant huddled against his chest. He breathed deeply to inhale that newborn baby scene and felt his heart soar. It was like a spell had been cast that would banished away even the darkest trace of a worry or doubt, and for that brief moment in time, life was perfect.

The curtains were drawn to the sides of the window where outside evening was setting in as the sky turned from violet to indigo. One by one the stars became more visible as they shone down from the heavens above and twinkled to catch the proud father's attention. He noticed them and smiled back. No matter how much he'd denied it over the years, he had always held on to the belief that his parents were up there watching over him.

A soft mewling began to sound from the restless child and Seto's lips ever so tenderly caressed the delicate head of little brown tufts clumped together by remnants of chalky white vernix. "Ssh, it's okay. Your Mom will be back soon." His attempt to soothe didn't have the instantaneous effect he had hoped for, so he approached the situation from a different angle as he quietly began to sing a very heartfelt message to his son. _"If walls break down, I will comfort you. If angels cry, oh I'll be there for you. You've saved my soul, …"_

There was a pause as Seto fought back the overwhelming emotion that had stirred from that last line to leave his mouth. If it hadn't been for the desire to see his children grow and prosper, then would he even still be there? He breathed in that glorious scent once more and skipped ahead with the song's lyrics._ "... Yeah you and me we can light up the sky, if you stay by my side; we can rule the world."_

For a moment the crying stopped only to restart when his own voice had halted, and so he continued as he stepped closer towards the window._ "All the stars are coming out tonight, They're lighting up the sky tonight, For you. For you." _Another kiss was given to his son. _It's a shame you'll never get to meet him._

His eyes then scanned the heavens as though searching for one particular point to make contact with. _"All the stars are coming out tonight, They're lighting up the sky tonight, For you … For you ..." _The song trailed off into silence. _Are you there old friend? Can you see him? He shares your name, I hope you don't mind._

"Darling, don't frown. I'm sure they can _all_ see him perfectly well up there and are as proud of you as I am."

"I'm sure you're right." He smiled at the sound of his wife's voice,- he hadn't noticed her re-enter the room,- and turned to fully face her as she hobbled back towards their bed. It still amazed him at how well she could read his thoughts from a mere expression, no doubt a result of having opened up yet even more of himself to her over the past months. The newborn resting over his heart began to whimper again and he decided a reunion was in order.

Kisara cautiously climbed back onto the bed. Her visit to the bathroom had been excruciatingly painful due to her lower regions still being sore and bloodied from the birth that had ended several hours ago and she had no desire to overstrain herself to cause yet more discomfort. Carefully she settled herself in an upright position against the mountain of raised pillows and took back the restless baby as he was delicately handed to her.

With his hands now free, Seto also seated himself on the bed beside his wife and wrapped an arm around her as she rest her head on his shoulder. Together they glanced down at Roland who was peacefully content at being cradled in his mother's arms once more. "We should have done this right from the start." He reflected on the joyous event of the day by comparing it to the other two they'd experienced. "No horrid hospitals. No awkward transportation. Just a calm and relaxed atmosphere in the comfort of our own home."

"Do you think Anathema will be okay?" Concerned eyes glanced at him as she tilted her head back to look at her husband. "It must have been a shock for her to have seen what she did."

"I'm sure she'll be fine." He assured about their eldest having walked in on the birth only to run back out in response. "But if it'll set your mind at ease then we'll have a talk with her when Naoko returns with the kids in a few days."

She nodded in agreement, though still couldn't help herself thinking about how her friend was coping with looking after the rest of their children to allow them some time alone with their new arrival.

"Don't worry yourself about it, get some rest whilst you can." Seto instructed as he squeezed her closer and planted a kiss on his wife's forehead. "I'm exhausted from having just watched you give birth."

"I think I've nailed it now." Kisara laughed, her neck still craned as she boasted. "Next time should be a breeze."

"Next time?!" He exclaimed mockingly and proceeded with a jaunty smirk. "Let me know when you're ready, and I'll see what I can do."

"I meant the surrogacy for Jack and Ianto that we talked about."

"Even so, I don't see why that should stop us from having our fun." Eyebrows were now raised suggestively.

She sent a sceptical look right back at him and jeered. "You've seen me give birth three times now, yet you're propositioning me for more sex?"

"Of course. There won't be anybody else I'll give myself to." He smiled sincerely at his wife as he began to run his fingers through her hair. "I love you Kisara. You're all I've ever wanted, have ever known, will ever need, and _nothing_ will ever change that."

There was a loud chime of the doorbell that caused Kisara to curse internally for it having ruined their now heartfelt moment. "Who could that be at this time in the evening?"

"I don't know." He sounded just as annoyed by the interruption. "What time did the midwife say she'd be back?"

"Sometime tomorrow morning." She confirmed when she and their baby were to have their first check-up, before then making her suggestion to their visitor's identity. "Perhaps Naoko forgot something of the kids?"

_That sounds exactly like her!_ Carefully Seto wriggled free from beside his wife and whilst still kneeling on the bed he kissed her and the now sleeping newborn goodbye. "I'll sort this out as quick as I can." His dismounted the bed and exited their room.

The doorbell chimed once more as he walked swiftly down the halls towards the main entrance of his home. _Who the hell does that woman think I am, Sonic the hedgehog? I'm going as fast as I can!_

Loud continuos banging now commenced against the front door as he finally reached it. He was not in the best of moods and intended for it to be known as he pulled open the door. "Do you have ANY idea how long it takes to walk from one side of this place to the other? Not to mention that Kisara's trying to rest! Show some patience whilst I answer the _fucking_ … door …" The woman his eyes landed on was not his wife's friend like he'd been expecting. _Becky?_

"Seto." Unfazed by the angry rant she'd been greeted with, Rebecca calmly strode across the threshold before he had chance to protest. "We need to talk."

_What is she doing here? _The door was closed by a trembling hand as Seto tried to make sense of the sudden appearance of his brother's wife. _Has she come seeking revenge? She's well within her right to do so. _He wet his lips as he struggled to find his voice that clearly portrayed his nerves when he spoke to her. "Becky I … I'm immensely sorry about what happened … b-because of me you …"

"Don't you _dare _apologise!" She cut him off and used a raised hand gesture to help symbolise her order for him to cease with his words. "Because of _you,_ my wishes _were_ carried out. _I'm_ the one who didn't foresee the consequences of the card life dealt. Or the way Mokuba reacted..." Her words cut off at the mention of her husband and the awareness of the fight that had seen him triumphantly topple the man stood before her. "I don't blame you. I never have and I never will."

_She doesn't hate me!_ His brother's opinion of him and what he'd done had been made perfectly clear, but to finally know how his sister-in-law felt after the whole ordeal,- and that it wasn't the same,- was like a weight had been lifted from his conscience.

"I want no part in this grudge held between the pair of you!"

"Grudge? I'm not the one holding a …"

"THREE YEARS!" Rebecca roared with distraught. "It's been three years since it happened. And during that time I've found myself secluded from the rest of my family and friends. All because my husband has become nothing more than a scared little boy who's too proud to make amends and talk about the secrets he's keeping. Now who does that remind you of?"

"And what are you expecting me to do about it?" Seto growled, forcing himself to become angry at the comparison that had been made instead of the concern he felt for his brother's wellbeing.

"Talk to him. He won't listen to me, but you he might; though you're going to have to be persistent. Make him see that all his fears are just nothing but spurious thoughts."

"It's not like I haven't tried!" The retort was a mix of anger, frustration and distress. "He's not answering my calls or emails. I can't get within 100 yards of KaibaLand or him _anywhere_ due to all the security he's hired. Christ Becky, I don't even know where you guys live anymore! _How_ am I supposed to get through to him if he won't let me near?"

"He's waiting for me, alone, in the car outside." She revealed that her husband was so close by and easily accessible. "Grab the opportunity Seto, it could be the last that we have."

"The last that we have?" He questioned curiously, wondering just what she had meant by it.

Rebecca's face began to scrunch, causing her nose to wrinkle and her glasses magnified the tears building up in her emerald eyes. "I don't know who he is anymore. And I know it's a cheap shot to make, but I'm tired of living like this." She looked her brother-in-law in the eye, though was determined to kept the tears at bay. "I've warned him that if he doesn't at least attempt to talk with you, ... then I'm filing for a divorce. I've already had our lawyers draw up the papers required."

"It sounds like you've already made up your mind." He commented bluntly on being told of the situation. _She'd gamble such high stakes?_

"You know as well as I do that when you've made your move and start playing your hand, you follow it through to the end … even when it doesn't bring you victory." The battle was lost and her tears began to fall.

_I know that feeling only too well._ Seto sympathised with the blonde as he gingerly approached her. "It'll be okay." He assured and gently pulled her close to him. "This grudge ends here tonight, whether Mokuba wants it to or not."

With her face buried in his chest, she sobbed more freely after having finally gotten the alleviation she'd craved to help combat the dilemma she had felt herself forced into. Arms tightened around her and a chin rested atop of her head.

"It's time both he and I are reminded of just who I really am."

_888888888888888888888888888888888_

… _We were drawn to whoever could keep us together, A__nd bound by the heavens above_

_And we tried to survive traveling at the speed of love ... _

The music played softly on the stereo as Mokuba sat sloughed back in the seat of his Ferrari. Arms folded staring straight on into nothingness as he waited impatiently for his wife to return. _She'll be back._ _Any moment now. Just as soon as she realises how dumb this whole idea is. After what I did to him, Seto wouldn't even dare to challenge me... _His train of thoughts was interrupted by a tapping noise on the passenger side window. Turning in his seat, he saw his brother standing there next to the vehicle, clearly not as intimidated as he'd assumed he would be.

"May I come in?" The question was muffled by the closed door.

_Oh shit, what do I do? _Mokuba gulped back the apprehension trying to form in the back of his throat. He hadn't expected Rebecca to actually succeed in following through with her bluff. Now that his brother was here, he'd have no choice but to let him in or face losing the woman he loved. A reluctant arm reached across and opened the door to grant entrance.

… _And we burned the bridges we're crossing over, Just to see the firelight_

_And the innocent are getting over being old tonight …_

Seto sat down, mimicking the other as he stared onwards into the space in front of him. He took a deep breath before forcing himself into the conversation he'd so longed for and feared at the same time. "We have things to discuss."

"I'm listening." The younger brother grumbled, now looking out his side window.

… _Woah, when we were young, When everything was what it seemed_

_Woah, when we were young, And everyday was how we dreamed_

_Never knowing the cost of what we paid, Letting someone else be strong_

_Wooooah, when we were young …_

"You cut your hair." Not quite knowing how to tackle the awkward situation, he'd spoken the first thing that had been noticed about his brother's appearance in an attempt to break the ice between them. There was no response what-so-ever. "Mokuba?"

… _And when you look at yourself tonight, Are you someone you recognize?_

_You can take back what you've given away but it must be the last time …_

Not willing to be drowned out by the sound any longer,- even though it was his favourite band,- Seto leant forward and turned the stereo off. "I said, _we have things to discuss_."

"So I cut my hair; I don't see what business it is of yours." The younger brother scoffed in reply with a heated glare and allowed the music to play once more at an even greater volume than before.

_...Woah, when we were young, When we adored the fabulous_

_Woah, when we were young, We were the foolish fearless_

_Woah, when we were young, We didn't know it wouldn't last_

_Wooooah, when we were …_

The song ceased again. This time the front panel of the stereo was ripped away in order to prevent it from being turned back on. It was then tossed out of the door that had been opened and soon slammed shut hard.

"What the...?!" Mokuba was left baffled by what he had seen and didn't know whether to laugh or cry at his brother's actions. "THAT WAS MY STEREO!"

"I think you'll find that it still _IS_ yours, it just happens to be half way across my driveway right now." Seto shot back as he stridently stared at his brother's fuming face. "Now that I have your full _attention_, I suggest that you put an end to this _childish_ charade so that we may converse as two _fully-grown _adults."

_I'm not the one behaving childishly!_ The youngest threw himself back in a contradicting strop. "Go on then! If you're going to say something, _fucking_ say it! Though I've got _nothing_ to say to you."

Seto breathed deep yet again and reminded himself that his brother was merely displaying frustrated anguish. "I've been talking with Becky..."

"So she's told you just what a _horrible_ person I've become?"

"Not exactly." The sardonic interruption was calmly received. "But I do wonder what it is that you have done to alter her perception of you? There was a time when that woman worshipped the ground you walked on, and now...? Now she feels like she has to run from you. Why little brother? What disrupted that harmony between you both?"

"For someone who's so smart, you sure have a lousy memory." Mokuba stared coldly as he refused to fold under the cool interrogation. His brows narrowed as he aimed to twist his brother's conscience. "You were there when I signed the papers for her hysterectomy, so you tell me what it is that's eating her."

_I know what you're doing; as expected._ Seto nodded repeatedly in response. His grave features soon gave way to allow the coy curve of his mouth. "You know, for a long while,- a long, long, _long_ while,- I took your anger to heart and even believed that I was the one to blame for how things unfolded that day. But after hearing what Becky had to say, about how she _doesn't _blame me in the slightest for upholding my loyalty towards her, well … you no longer hold any power of that incident to use against me. That card's been proven to be a fake, and it won't faze me any longer."

A lump was now well and truly lodged at the back of the younger Kaiba's throat as the stern gaze fixed on him. It was a clear indication of his brother's triumphant return, and no doubt a reprimanding lay ahead.

"I'm _sorry,_ that you found yourself making those kind of decisions. I bore and sheltered you from many over the years, but _unfortunately_ _THIS_ is how life works. Not everything you do is going to be rewarded with kittens and rainbows! I _thought_ I'd raised you to _realise_ that."

There had been a slight waver to his brother's voice but Mokuba was unable to distinguish just what it was. Remorse? Anger? Fear? A combination of all three? Not wanting to meet his eye any longer, he turned away and raised his hand to cover his trembling lip. _You wouldn't understand._

Another deep breath. He hadn't meant to sound so harsh, but at least now he knew that his words were hitting home and reinstating his guardianship role. Once again it was time to play the part he'd just fought for and to uphold, as he aimed to comfort and guide his younger brother. "I know it's late coming, but you have three choices from all of this; One, you let it continue to define you. Two, you let it completely destroy you. Or three, you let it strengthen you and move forward."

"I can't move forward."

"You have to."

"_YOU FUCKING HYPOCRITE!_" Mokuba roared as his fist smashed against the side window. "_Don't_ tell me I have choices to only then contradict yourself when I fail to kowtow with your preferred option! I _can't_ move forward from this, because I _don't know_ how to! And neither do you. This _isn't_ the same as Mom and Dad, this is _my _daughter. _MY_ _beautiful_ Sora who the world will _never_ know." He covered his mouth with his hand once more as his arm rest on the door and went back to looking into the darkness outside.

"You're right, I don't know the heartache of losing a child..." Seto frowned at how his brother was clearly hurting from the tragic loss, and most likely keeping his true feelings to himself. He had to rectify that. "But I can help to lead, or at least drag you forward, if you just let me. Don't shut me out any longer."

There was no response.

_I was never a good role model for you, so why the hell did you choose to follow in my footsteps?_ If his brother wasn't going to open up to him, then the least he could do was to show some reassurance over the difficult decision that had been made, one that he felt partially responsible for by having helped to create the situation in the first place. "You shouldn't blame yourself. Switching off Sora's life support hasn't made you a bad person. No parent wants ..."

"I didn't do it." Mokuba spoke weakly as he interrupted. Tearfully moved by the fact that his extremely premature daughter had been acknowledged by the name he'd given her, unlike the additional statistic she had merely become on the hospital's records, he turned to face his brother. "Once I had calmed down, I couldn't do it. You were right. After everything Becky had you fight for on her behalf, she deserved the chance to live. Who was I to say otherwise?"

Hearing the confession tore at Seto's heart. If his brother hadn't chosen to end the suffering being caused, then just how long had he been left on his own and helpless to do nothing whilst his daughter struggle for survival before finally passing away? He watched as Mokuba pulled at the strap around his neck to reveal the card shaped locket that had been hidden underneath his shirt. It was clutch tightly for a moment before then being opened to view the tiny hand and foot prints now concealed inside it.

"Whilst Becky was in an induced coma, I watched over our daughter… non-stop … for four days." There were breaks in his voice as he spoke, battling to keep the cries at bay, as the ordeal of what he'd been through was shared. "She was getting stronger. And then … on the fifth day it happened. Sora went into cardiac arrest … and they … They wouldn't … They refused to resuscitate her … because … uggh!"

"_Don't _blame yourself." The instruction was compassionate yet firm as it was given to the sobbing man who clutched at the locket once more. "It was most likely due to the fact that she was so underdeveloped that their procedures wouldn't have allowed them to even attempt..."

"No." Mokuba shook his head. "It _was _my fault. I'd signed the paper that authorised their obligation to perform such tasks, to be withdrawn." He gave out another sob before continuing. "I signed her life away because I failed to read what I was placing my signature onto. You warned me..." His face crinkled in sorrow. "... and I didn't listen."

_I warned you? _Seto thought back and then remembered the wad of paperwork that had been brought for his brother to sign whilst they were still in the waiting room. Realisation of the unethical trick that had been played hit him and his eyes widened. "_DO NOT_ blame yourself!"

"But I affectively killed her."

"_NO_, you didn't. It was a dirty manoeuvre on the hospital's part..."

"It's something that I'm going to have to live with for the rest of my life!"

"You were told that those papers were for _Becky's_ procedures." Seto was determined to not let his brother wallow any longer than the years he already had. "There was _NOTHING_ mentioned about Sora's care being amongst the paperwork. Mark my words Mokie; heads _will_ roll for this! I'll make sure of it."

"What's the point?" He shot back in distraught as the tears continued to fall. "It won't bring her back!"

"You're right, it won't." It was admitted calmly as he knocked his emotions back into check and saw how to use the unfortunate death to his advantage. "But it _could_ prevent it from happening to others and stop them from experiencing the same tragic fate." He stared at his broken and scared baby brother as he explained, "Sora's death has the strength to make a difference to the lives of others. _This_ is how you begin to move forward."

Appreciative tears weld in Mokuba's already overflowing eyes. "I betrayed you in such a horrid way that day. Why are you still here and willing to help me?"

"After everything we've been through together, do you think I care for you so little that betraying me would make a difference?" Seto forced a smile. "You're my brother and I love you. I don't need any other reason."

"I don't deserve you." The younger brother blubbered. "I felt so ashamed at what I'd done … I _wanted_ to apologise, I really did … But it was like another force had taken over … It made me recoil, _prevented_ me from reaching out … and once it had begun, it was _easier _to carry on like that … To push you away and feel safer from causing further harm … I'm sorry Seto. I'm so, _so_ sorry."

Emotions finally took toll on the brothers and they embraced each other tightly. Both of them squeezing the other so forcefully that had it been possible for them to fuse into one being, then they would have easily done so.

"I forgive you Mokie." A relieved voice breathed shakily and stroked gently at the hair that was now shorter than his. "I've been there and I know it's not an easy feeling to fight, but you can't let it take over you. To do so means that you risk losing everything important to you."

"I've ruined things with Becky, haven't I?"

"No. That woman knows you are deserving of far much more than you're currently allowing yourself, and she wasn't ready to give up on you. Not just yet, or possibly ever. She's a stubborn one; definitely worthy of the Kaiba name."

There was an attempt at laughter that dissolved into more weeping from the younger brother. Not another word was spoken as they remained in each other's hold for the next several minutes until eventually, they pulled apart and the locket was placed back where it had come from.

"That look says something else is still bothering you." Seto commented on the sombre expression he was met with. "Why don't you tell me about that too?"

_Did she tell him my secret?_ Mokuba thought fearfully in response to the gentle prod for sharing yet more of himself. Resisting against the urge to close up once more,- he _still_ wasn't ready to make the revelation,- he forced himself regardless. After the things that had be spoken, his brother wasn't about to think any less of him, right? "It's about me and Becky. And ... our kids … "

"Go on." The encouragement was given as silence took over.

"S-s-she wanted … b-but I couldn't … I can't … I … I …"

"It's okay Mokie." Seto came to his brother's rescue who was clearly struggling to find the words needed for what he had to say. He'd a feeling that what was about to be told had also played a hefty part in fuelling his brother's actions several years back. His own brief spell of impotence had been frustrating enough so could sympathise with the anger it had caused. "I know where this is going."

"You do?" _Oh god, she really did tell you!_

"I've seen the pills that you keep in your desk drawer. You know … the blue ones."

"The Viagra?" There was a hesitant,- or was it uncomfortable?,- tone to his brother's voice that now convinced him that his wife hadn't spoken about his secret at all. "When did you see them?"

"Years ago, back when the twins were born. I did that mammoth overhaul of the KaibaLand systems for you. I saw them then, but with so much going on at the time, it just slipped my mind." He let out a sigh at having discovered, but foolishly done nothing about it since he'd assumed that he would be confided in once his brother was ready. "I should have spoken to you about this sooner. I hope you're not feeling any less of a man because you can't … you know..."

"Because I can't get an erection?" He'd never seen his brother flustered like this since the time he'd demanded to know were babies came from back when he was eight and the other thirteen. The whole thing would have been amusing right now if it hadn't been for the seriousness at hand.

"We can get you help."

"What if I don't want help?"

"Why wouldn't you?"

Mokuba's head dropped and came to rest in his hand. He sighed tiredly. "I've managed to give Becky two kids, _plus_ it's not like she'd reap the benefits and be able to have more now anyway."

"But what about you? And her? … Intimately?"

"I'm _more than_ capable of pleasing my wife!" He retorted a little too harshly, before adding,- "And vice versa.",- as an afterthought. "I know you've only got my best interest at heart and if it will get you off my back, then I'll make an appointment with my doctor to make sure everything is okay. Okay?"

Seto simply nodded and decided to leave the conversation at that, so as not to run the risk of it blowing up into an argument that may undo their armistice. Quickly he aimed to find another topic that would lessen the tension that had been built and easily found it as he ran his hand along the dashboard. "It's a nice car you've got here."

"It's a Ferrari. It's red. What's not to like?" A smile gradually formed on Mokuba's face as he watched his brother now examining the upholstery. "It's the latest model too; a 488."

"Yeah I know. I was eyeing one up just last month."

"I thought the 430 was your favourite? You're not thinking of replacing yours are you?"

Seto continued to inspect the car's interior as his fingers traced up along the gearbox towards the frontless stereo system. "It _was _my favourite, and yes I'm looking to replace it."

"Was? What happened?"

"It was hit by a bus."

"Where you driving?" There was a huge amount of concern in Mokuba's voice.

The worried tone had been noted. "No, it was stationary at the time … And I _wasn't_ in it."

He let out a sigh of relief. The thought that something terrible could have happened to his brother and he won't have known about it scared him beyond all things imaginable. "On the bright side though, at least it wasn't your Lotus. I know how much you love that car; it's the pride and joy of your collection."

"Actually, that was hit by the same bus too."

"Oh-kay, _now_ I'm intrigued." The younger brother stated as he struggled desperately to keep the amused grin off his face from seeing the almost comical grimace on the other's. "There's got to be a story behind that right?"

"There is." Seto smirked back. It was beginning to feel like old times again, enjoying every second of his brother's company that he had missed for so long. "Why don't you come inside and I'll tell you the whole thing."

"I dunno." Mokuba seemed hesitant, but as he saw the joy begin to drain from the other's face at having taken him seriously, he abandoned the tease and cut straight to the chase. "Will there be cake?"

A relieved smile. "Sure."

"Then it's a deal."

Together the brothers exited the car and had only taken a couple of steps towards the mansion when Seto suddenly stopped. "Mokuba, before we proceed, there's something you should know … My family has grown by two since we last spoke, with my youngest having been born earlier today."

"Congratulations!" He beamed only to be met with a mournful expression. Aware that the other was feeling anxious about his reaction to the disclosure of more children that he himself won't be able to have, he gave his sincerest assurance. "It's okay Seto, I don't bear you any ill feelings. I wouldn't expect you to stop living you life because of me. Not even for a moment. Ever."

"Thank you." He said in barely a whisper and they began to walk again.

"So what do I have? New nieces? New Nephews?"

"One of each."

"Awesome!"

Seto smiled at his brother's enthusiasm as they came to where the stereo front lay on the gravel. He bent down to retrieve it and saw that it had smashed upon impact. It was handed back to his brother. "Looks like I owe you a new one."

"Uh-uh, you owe the dealership, and they'll probably want the full cost of the vehicle. It was only loaned to me for an overnight test drive."

"What?!"

After a pathetic attempt to hide it, laughter erupted from Mokuba's mouth at the startled look on his brother's face.

"Oh, _ha-ha_!" He sneered back with a smile whilst watching tears being wiped from those mischievous eyes that had just pranked him. _You haven't changed a bit little brother._

Calmness returned as they continued to walk side by side.

"I'm glad we made up." Mokuba commented. "I would have hated for something to happen to us like it did with the Schroeders."

"We'd never turn out like them." Seto replied as he felt his chest begin to palpitate from the mere mention of the two brothers. "We hold too much respect for each other for a start ..."

"You haven't heard yet, have you? About Siegfried?"

"What about him?" Although his voice remained calm, his anxious heart began to race rapidly.

"He went missing a couple of years back, but it wasn't until a few months ago that his body was discovered washed up on the French coast." The pause in his brother's speech seemed to last forever as Seto waited to hear what he already knew since it had been him to pull the trigger of the gun that had ended the man's life. "Somebody murdered him! Shoot him right through the head."

"That's awful! I wouldn't have wished that on either of them." He forced himself to say, whilst feeling extremely sick with the terror of possibly being unveiled by his younger brother. It felt like any moment now his chest would explode.

"Leon's a complete wreck." Mokuba went on. "He blames himself for not having done something sooner, closer to the date his bro had first vanished, in the hope of…"

"If he's truly your friend, then you should _stop_ him from thinking like that! What's done is done; there'll be no bringing his brother back from the dead."

"I'm doing my best Seto; he needs time to grieve."

"I know." He nodded understandingly and tried to vanquish his feelings of guilt before they became obvious. "I'm sorry for having sounded so harsh, but we both know from experience how destructive that kind of thinking can be. He's lucky to have a good friend like you Mokie. Please, pass on my condolences when you next see him."

"I will."

Finally they'd reached the mansion and Seto pushed open the front door. "Carry on ahead, you'll find Becky in the main lounge. I'll be along in a minute."

Not questioning why his brother remained outside, Mokuba made his way through in search of his wife. There was a smile on his face as he couldn't wait to give her the good news about him the two of them. Of course that would only come after he'd apologised for his actions and behaviour that had lead her to the extreme forcing of his hand.

The heavens were silent and still as Seto stood alone and searched through the stars one more time. He had no luck in finding the one he sought as none of them twinkled down like the others before. And why would it after what he'd done? _He'll be okay, I promise. Mokuba will guide him. _His throat was now clogged with remorse and he gulped it back so that he could speak aloud. "Verzeihung."

Still nothing but dull milky white dots against dark navy blue.

Now feeling considerably foolish for having tried to make peace with the dead, Seto turned to enter indoors and missed the sight of the shooting star as it raced across the night sky.

.

**END**

_8888888_

**A/N: Hope that reads alright. I've edited it several times and cut a whole heap of rambling but I'm still not quite happy with it :\ Anyhoo, we have all the kids births out of the way, and have Seto and Mokuba on good terms again. **

**Songs feature in this chapter are 'Rule The World' &amp; 'When We Were Young' both by Take That.**

**_"...do you think I care for you so little that betraying me would make a difference?"_ \- The 12th Doctor's quote, used on purpose because it's one of my favs ^^;**

**Next instalment of the saga will be 'One Card Short' and may take a couple of weeks before posting since I'm busy with other stuff right now.**

***cwtch***

**KG**


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